New Found Glory
by Ivorynightmare
Summary: Asuka is missing and NERV is in turmoil trying to find her. Even more in turmoil is Shinji, trying to sort out his feelings and save those important to him. Shinji x Asuka
1. The Glow

Hey all D

I decided to start a NGE story seeing as how I'm a big fan of the series. I based this off of a dream I had a while back. Strange, huh? .?

Anyway, I hope you guys can enjoy this and everything. And by the way, if you're curious, for the most part, this is going to be running off of the NGE timeline, with only a few events from it.

Didn't really listen to any music for this story yet. I jus tlet it all flow out into my fingers and from there into my laptop. Once again, hope you can enjoy it, and I'm glad to be back at typing

"Ugh…." The room was dark. There was a small ray of light coming from underneath a door, but other than that, it was pitch black. "Whoever did this… Shinji... or those idiots… there better be a good reason. No, screw that! There is no good reason for this!" a girl's voice cut through the darkness. She struggled, but found herself unable to move.

She hadn't felt the ropes before. She was too focused on her anger. She silently seethed as she tried to get the ropes that kept her arms tied behind her back around the elbows loose. She tried moving her legs as well, but she found the expected result. They were tied as well, around the ankles and the knees. She squirmed on the cold ground as she attempted to loosen both ropes while also silently swearing. A laugh startled her and made her jump a little bit. It was a smooth, slow laugh.

"Ha ha ha ha….. heh heh heh... A struggler are we?" whoever it was spoke slowly. His voice was low and just the sound of his voice seemed like it was poking fun at her. She heard a small rustling, like the sound of pant legs brushing up against each other after someone sits up from a relaxed position.

"Ugh…. Who the hell are you, why the hell am I here, and where the hell are we?" she growled at him. She couldn't see the man that was speaking to her, but if she could, her cold, sapphire blue eyes would be burning holes in him like lasers. All she got back was another sarcastic laugh.

"For such a beautiful young woman, you sure have a foul mouth" he replied and once again the sound of movement could be heard. She growled again, struggling harder. This only seemed to amuse the man. He chuckled as he heard her struggling. "You… are an interesting young woman, miss

--1

Soryu Asuka Langley" the young man leaned forward, almost over the counter. The woman at the desk leaned back a little. He was acting pretty scary.

"Shinji, you have to relax" she reached forward, putting her hand on his shoulder. She rubbed it softly and smiled. "We're doing our best right now, but we don't have any information yet. Don't worry. We have agents and officers all over Japan-no, all over the world looking for any piece of information pertaining to her whereabouts, no matter how insignificant. It won't do you any good to be constantly on edge like this. You have to calm down before you have a breakdown" the girl took a breath, and stood up.

Shinji stared down at her desk. She was right. He couldn't be this tense 24/7. Not only was it bad for the body and the mind, but if he remained like this, he would probably end up doing something stupid. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked up "Maya, where are you going?" he asked as the brown haired girl stood next to the door out of the main office.

"Sorry. Dr. Akagi paged me. I have to go. If we find anything, I promise I'll let you know right away. Got it, Shinji" she looked back to him and smiled, before waving and hitting the button to shut the sliding metal door.

"Yeah… got it…" Shinji muttered. He was left alone in the room. Or so he thought. He heard some rustling behind him and turned around to see the back end of a green school uniform. He bent down slightly, attempting to peek underneath it. _What am I doing? Oh well, what the hell?_ He reasoned it was okay if it was taking his mind off of the situation. Just as he got a good view, he heard the voice that belonged to the skirt.

"Brother…?" the low, flat voice came. He jumped back a bit, shaking his head. He scolded himself in his head for attempting to peek under her skirt, now that he realized who it was.

"Y-Yes, Rei?" he laughed nervously as she turned around. Her red eyes peered straight into his while she walked towards him.

"Is something wrong? You seem troubled. Is it because of Pilot Soryu?" she sure knew how to get straight to the point and hit the nail on the head.

"W-Well yeah… I'm… I'm worried about her. I just want to find her so we can know she's safe" he nodded and regained his composure as he got this off of his chest. Sure, the way he was acting made it pretty apparent that he was worried, but saying it to Rei made him feel more at ease.

"I'm sorry, brother…" Rei moved forward again and took his hand. She started pulling him along gently towards the door.

"Huh? Rei, where are we going?" Shinji was still out of it, trying and failing to not think about Asuka. He often wondered to himself: Did he feel something for her? Sure, she was the closest thing to a girlfriend he'd ever had, but at the same time, she irritated him, she hit him for no reason sometimes, she yelled at him, she was loud, annoying, and was sometimes just a stuck up bitch. Then again, she had been living with him and Misato for a while now. He was used to having her around, used to walking to and from school with her. He was used to cooking breakfast for her and Misato and hanging out around the house in their spare time with her.

This was always the point where he was confused. She was close to him, there was no doubt about that. But how was she close? Which line was she on: Sister or girlfriend? Did the lines cross or collide? He shook his head once again and rubbed his temples. This was always the point where he stopped thinking. It was too confusing.

With Rei, it was easy. He had felt something for her at first, but the relationship between the two quickly moved to a more sibling relationship. She looked, felt, and acted as if she was his sister. She had even started calling him "Brother" recently. He shrugged as Rei answered his question.

"To the cafeteria. You need nourishment. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday" she was, once again, simple and to the point.

Once again, caring for him like a sister would. Or perhaps a mother? He didn't know. Now that somebody mentioned it to him, he finally felt how hungry he was. He let Rei lead him along as they neared the NERV cafeteria. He never really like the way this place looked. Long steel hallways that looked identical. Sometimes, there were sections that looked identical. In fact, that happened more often than not in this place.

He once again shrugged as he talked to himself under his breath about random things and Rei led him into the cafeteria.

"Here. Sit" he pulled out a chair for him "I will bring you something" she walked off towards the counter with her NERV card ready. You could swipe those things anywhere and buy anything with them. It was pretty cool really. He relaxed and laid his head down on the cold metal table as he waited for her to get back.

"I just gotta relax…."

--

Asuka sighed. She had drifted back into unconsciousness shortly after her 'conversation' with the man. Whoever he was. From the sounds of it he was gone. The little light at the foot of the door was still there. She sighed and brought her hand up to her head.

"I can't believe this… captured by some weird guy, out in the middle of nowhere, tied up and- wait…" she rubbed her cheek with her hand. Then she moved her feet. "Yes!" she pushed herself up, but almost immediately fell back down. She felt queasy now. Still lightheaded and sick from the drugs or whatever he used, she reasoned. She held onto the wall as she moved along, towards the door. Towards the small sliver of light.

"Where are you going, Miss Soryu…?" the voice sounded different now. Smaller. A short buzz confirmed her suspicions. It was a handheld radio, and that meant he was observing her from somewhere.

"Oh, nowhere. Just the normal places. You know, bathroom, get some water, kick your ass" she growled and continued to pull herself along the wall towards the light.

"Oh, is-is that so?" the man laughed in the middle of his sentence, making him repeat some of it. He seemed endlessly amused by her. "And how do you expect to do that? You should just be a good little girl and go sit down. I'll bring you some food later on, and show you something" he laughed again"You're still groggy from the drugs"

"_**FUCK YOU**_!!" she spat, slamming her hands down on the wall. It was true that her legs were still shaking and unsteady, but she wasn't about to admit that.

"Oh, Miss Soryu, you're so entertaining. I'm glad I decided to capture you" his mocking laughter filled the room once again.

In a fit of rage, Asuka felt a momentary adrenaline rush. She moved forward and kicked the radio across the room. Afterwards, she wished she hadn't. Now there was a stinging pain in her foot.

"Oh ho ho! You certainly seem feisty! Perhaps I could show you the full depth of your situation now then" it sounded like he was musing things over. "Yes, now is as good a time s any. You want to know where you are, don't you…?" she could practically see the smug grin on his face. That is, if she knew what he looked like.

"Yes! And I want to know who the hell you are, and why the hell I'm here!" she screamed for the second time today. Or… was it still the same day? She couldn't tell.

"Just step through the door. Although I'm not sure if you'll like what you're going to see… heh heh…" the doorway slide open, and the light poured in. Asuka had to shield her eyes, which had seen nothing but darkness for god knows how long. She slowly pulled herself along and through the doorway. She could feel a bit of strength returning to her legs.

Outside of the room wasn't any interesting than inside of it. It was still the same damn cold steel under her feet. She could see she was still wearing the clothes she was wearing at the Christmas party. The room, now that she could see it, was a perfect square room, just plain steel, no details. Which was the same as the hallways.

"Reminds me of the base…" she muttered, walking slowly and unsteadily. Her legs were still somewhat shaky, but the more she walked, the better they got.

"Almost there, Miss Soryu" a disdainful chuckle filled her ears as she moved down the hallway. "Keep going. That door on your right" the person instructed her. She grumbled as she pressed the button next to the door. It slid open and she moved through it. She was beginning to get the rest of her strength back.

"Now where the hell am I?!" she screamed up at the ceiling, knowing he could hear her.

"Just take a look for yourself…" a darker tone was in his laughter now. The southern walls started humming, and then rolling up. The steel shutters pulled up to reveal to Asuka her location. Her eyes shot open and her mouth dropped slightly in disbelief.

"Wh-what? That's… impossible"

"I told you that you wouldn't like what you saw…"

--

Shinji sighed, lying back on the couch. What with all the stress and worrying and the energy he burned looking up any leads as to Asuka's location, he had no energy left to make dinner.

"Hold on, brother. It should be done soon" Rei's voice floated over the couch and into the uneasy sea of thoughts in his head. He shook himself and sat up a bit, looking over at Rei. She looked cute in Misato's pink apron that she bought but never used. She was cooking some sort of soup. At this distance, Shinji could tell exactly what kind. He relaxed back and sighed.

It seemed like everyone was trying to get him to chill out a bit. He was getting teased every chance the people at nerve got. He recalled what Aoba and Hyuga had said to him.

"_Yo, Shinji! Workin' hard trying to find those lease, eh?" Aoba slapped him on the back as he sorted through files on a computer. "Looking pretty hard for Asuka, aren't you?"_

"_Yeah. I wonder… Well, they __**have**__ been living together for a while… I wonder if…! They must have! You guys have slept together, haven't you?" Hyuga smirked and flashed a thumbs up_

He shook his head. He was getting teased left and right. But it eased his thoughts somewhat. Everyone knew how serious the situation was, and yet they were still trying to get him to calm down. Although Hyuga's comment did make him think back to his and Asuka's combat duo debut. When they did they participated in the synchronization training, she did come in and sleep with him… didn't she? She slept next to him, curled up against him, and almost kissed him.

He closed his eyes. Rei was right. He was getting uptight and stressed again. He just needed to stop thinking for a bit and eat what she was cooking for him. He just needed to relax…

--

"Oooh, Miss Soryu… the reaction alone was worth snatching you up, not to mention your way of endlessly amusing me. But-but here's the great part!" he laughed hysterically. "The real fun is still to come!"


	2. The C words

Chapter two! D

I relaized that htis story is taking me away from my other fanfic. If you read it, I apologize. I've decided tot ake a small break from it and switch over to this. I decided that working on something else will bring fresh ideas when I go back to the other story. Besides, I'm having fun with this story Come now, all ye merry men! The court jesters and attendants! The townsfolk, the knights! Let us all revel in the glory of Gendo, the bastard king! D

Music: "Scotty doesn't know" Lustra, "Stop and stare" Onerepublic, "Titanic remix" DHT, "UNDO" Can't remember the band, but it's the third opening to Fullmetal Alchemist, and "Helicopter" Bloc Party

Enjoy

"Oh? Is that so…?" the dark room was filled with faint green light. The new trees they planted down on the geofront gave the place a lively feel. Normally the room was pitch black except for a small light, a chair, and a desk. The rather dull room only had two distinguishing features about it: First off, the Tree of Sephiroth on the ceiling, with it's ten points and twenty two channels between them, and the second was that everyone in the base knew of, and feared, this room.

"Yes. The Second Child, Soryu Asuka Langley, was abducted late last night. As of now, we have no information pertaining to her whereabouts or any suspects" Fuyutsuki maintained his cool as he spoke, despite the gravity of the situation.

"It is of little importance" Gendo replied, brushing it off and leaning back into his chair.

"Little importance? We've lost a pilot. That sounds important to me. While we do still have the necessary components for instrumentality, in the mean time while she's gone, we have a hole in our defense systems from the last battle, and are now short one unit" Fuyutsuki spoke his mind as he stood straight in the dark cold room.

Gendo turned slightly in his chair and raised an eyebrow. The sub-commander losing his cool wasn't something that happened often. "

"That is true… What are we doing to find her currently?" Gendo's cold, calculating voice seemed to resonate in the room.

"Currently? We have agents all over the world looking for any scrap of evidence that may lead to her whereabouts, leaving nothing out. We're working at full capacity, and then some, but still we haven't been able to get anything. I'm surprised that Second section Intelligence let this happen. The publicity section is currently formulating a reason for the Second Child to be missing school. More notably, however, is that your son" Gendo's eyebrow raised a bit again at the mention of Shinji "requested most of the immediate action and coordinated most of it with the supervision of Ms. Ibuki. Much like you were at the age, no?"

A small chuckle escaped Gendo's lips, although it was clear there was no humor in it.

"He's an Ikari. Moreover, he's my son. If things go the way they should, he'll surpass me, and make what I've done to help the world look like the blithering and works of a complete idiot" Fuyutsuki took note that that was one of the few good things he had ever heard the man say about his estranged son.

"And what of SEELE's response?" Fuyutsuki had been expecting this question since the beginning of their conversation.

"They called for a meeting. Shinji was there when they did. He doesn't understand who these men are, but he seems to know the gravity of what's happening. He surprised me by volunteering himself to go before them and speak. Pretty bold, eh?"

Now with this, Gendo genuinely laughed.

"Kids got balls. Well, he is my son" Fuyutsuki thought he heard a bit of that life and charm Gendo had had before Yui's death. The image of a young, rough, obnoxious, and ambitious Gendo entered his mind, as did the image of leaves in the fall and the autumn breeze.

"Now, we must get down to business. I'll head off to the meeting. You take care of anything that comes up while I'm gone" the humor and old nostalgic feeling had left, as did the small smile that spread on Fuyutsuki's face.

"Yes, sir" he replied, and turned, leaving the small, dark room.

--

Fuyutsuki sighed. Conversations in that room were often straining. As if just the room itself drained one's energy and emotions.

"Just come out of the lair of the bastard king, eh?" Fuyutsuki heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned to see Kaji, grinning and holding a phone in his hand. "It's for you. I have to go find Misato, so I'll see you later" he briefly bowed to his superior, then handed him the phone and took off down the corridor. Fuyutsuki watched him leave, the brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Ah! You are there. Hello, sensei" he yet another familiar voice.

"Ah, Shinji! I was wondering where you were"

"I'm at home with Rei now. She's making me something to eat to help me relax. You know how stressed out this Asuka situation has me, sensei" a short laugh could be heard as Fuyutsuki switched ears.

"Are you going to be back in time for lessons today?" Fuyutsuki asked. He had been teaching Shinji for the past two months how to fight and proper swordsmanship. Things that, back in his pre-Second Impact Japan were very important and honored things. He had Kaji take him to the range to get the hang of using a firearm. You never know when he might need it.

"That's the things, Sensei. Rei won't let me" he said simply "She's keeping me here and won't let me leave until she's satisfied that I'm relaxed. Is it okay if I miss this one session today?" he asked. It was perfectly reasonable. He only missed two other sessions, and when he came back, he always worked extremely hard. He was a responsible, strong young man. It was a shame that he was still a bit withdrawn due to Gendo's abandonment of him during his self Exodus trying to get over Yui.

"Sure. You'll do fine as long as you practice. Besides, you work twice as hard if you miss a session, so we'll be fine"

"Thank you, Sensei. Oh! Rei is done with the soup. I have to go now. Thanks, and goodbye Sensei. Have a good night"

"Ah, yes. Goodbye Shinji" he heard Rei in the background and some rustling of chairs and bowls, then a click as Shinji hung up. He smiled. Not only was he helping Rei become more social and 'alive', but he hadn't had anyone call him 'Sensei' for a long time. It felt a bit like the old days. He sighed and grinned slightly. Now wasn't the time for that.

--

"Ha ha! It's completely possible! Just think, Miss Soryu! What did humans do before Second Impact? What was one of the main fields?" the mocking voice came through the PA system now, the small radio gone.

"B-Before…?" she stuttered, still looking through the window. Outside was cold, dead, serene blackness. And out amongst that were small, gleaming lights. And even closer, was a big, bright, beautiful blue orb, hanging in front of her so peacefully it was odd. The clouds moved, and she could see that several spots were under heavy rain while others won't.

"N-NASA? And the space program?" she looked up, finally managing to speak.

"Bingo! The Space program! You see, when Second Impact occurred and ruined our lives" uproarious laughter interrupted his sentence "we humans were interested in the next great frontier of exploration: Space! But you know, seeing as how there was a catastrophic explosion cause by a cantankerous calamity from the cosmos, out interests were, quite and sincerely, fucked" his voice sounded mock cheery.

"Is that so?" she replied, her voice sounding nervous. Whoever this person was, he sounded very strange. And perhaps mentally unstable.

"Yes! That is so! This calamitous calamity from the cosmos catastrophically set us on a cataclysmic course for the misfortune we currently find ourselves in now!" the voice sounded angry now. There was no doubting it. This man-whoever he was-had to have had some sort of mental instability. Or perhaps he was trying to scare her? If so, it was starting to work.

"So where are we?" she asked her question yet again.

"Ah, you see! We are out floating in the deep reaches of space! Okay, maybe not. We're at an old orbital station in the moon's orbit. It has, since, been abandoned. It is only kept running by the solar panels that catch the solar radiation of the sun. Without it, we would be… well, pretty dead" she could see him shrugging.

"R-Really now?" she pushed herself up. This was all a lot to take in. Then a thought occurred to her. "If that was all abandoned, then how did we get here?"

"Ah! That is for me to know, Miss Soryu, and for you to ponder over fruitlessly" he chuckled darkly. Crinkling could be heard in the background.

"What are your plans? Are you going to kill me?"

"No"

"Rape me?"

"No, no! Of course not! Not that it isn't tempting" he laughed giddily like a small child once again.

"Then what? What are you going to do?" she was confused. He wasn't going to ask for a ransom, was he? The closest thing she had to a guardian was Misato, and she wasn't the richest post-Second Impact person in the world. But NERV! She was one of the Children. She would be top priority.

""I'm going to hold you here. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it"

"People are going to come looking for me" she replied. Her cockiness was back. She couldn't believe she was so defeated for a moment there.

"Ooooh yes… yes they are… That's where the _real_ fun begins…" his words seemed to be laced with amusement and venom. It made her confidence waver. But only for a second. "Here" some whirling and a click at a strange looking table next to her attracted her attention. A tray came up, with soup and some toast on it. "Eat up" he laughed maniacally again, and the PA system shut off. No doubt he was still monitoring her on cameras.

"Thanks" she muttered sarcastically, taking the tray and sitting down. The view from the window really was amazing. She dipped the toast in the soup and started to eat; only just now realizing how hungry she was.

--

"Up, Brother" Rei took the bowl from Shinji and placed it in the sink and waited for him to stand. "This way" she grabbed his hand and pulled him along towards his bedroom.

"Rei, I know where my bedroom is" he scratched his head as she slid the door open. He stepped into the room and she nodded.

"I shall be right back" she turned and walked down the hall. Shinji sighed and kicked his shoes off. The day was so exhausting. On constant angel alert, looking for Asuka, worrying about her, and everything else life decided to just throw at him. Shinji closed his eyes as his thoughts turned to Asuka. He flowing, fiery orange hair, her sapphire blue eyes, and the sound of her voice came to mind. Although it was annoying to be around her sometimes, he found himself feeling… uneasy whenever she wasn't there.

He heard the door slide open again and looked up.

"R-Rei! What are you doing?" he sat up quickly when he saw her again.

"What? Brother doesn't like this? It's what I always wear when I sleep" she replied, moving forward. She was wearing a white one piece lingerie gown.

"A-and where exactly did you get this?" he asked, looking her up and down. It was short, stopping just where her panties started. The material was somewhat see through and the fact that she was no longer wearing a bra was apparent.

"Commander Ikari gave it to me for my birthday" from the sound of her voice, she didn't mind or understand the fact that his father had given her overly revealing clothing. She probably didn't know any better.

_Dad… You sly bastard…_ Shinji shook his head to clear the thoughts of what his father and Rei did and/or talked about. That was some disturbing information that he definitely did not need to think about. And besides, the more pressing issue was… well, the fact that Rei was pressing herself against him as she climbed into bed with him.

"You need to relax, brother. I'm going to make sure you get some sleep" she nodded and pulled the blanket over both of them.

_You say that, but… this is making my pulse skyrocket and my blood rush…_

Rei shifted slightly, cuddling up against him. She looked up at him. At this angle he could practically see everything.

"What is it brother?"

"It's no good… it's coming out…" Shinji sighed and closed his eyes, holding his nose as it began to bleed.

"Brother! Your nose is bleeding!"

"Rei, don't move around like that!"

--

"What the hell are you doing here? Don't you have someone else to annoy?" Misato spat. She flipped her long, purple hair over her shoulder. She looked away from him as she continued typing. She wasn't the best with computers, but she was doing her best ot help find Asuka.

"Hey, you know… You don't have to be so fiery whenever I come around" a short chuckle made her grit her teeth. He was so annoying like that. So carefree and stupid.

"If you're not going to help, then get out!"

"Whoa! Calm down, babe" Kaji grinned and walked over, sitting at the computer next to him. "You need to calm down, you know? We're gonna find her. We just need to work together and work efficiently. That's why I'm here" he nodded.

"I doubt it. You're just here to tease me and distract me. And most likely try to get in my pants"

"Hey! I resent that! I didn't once think about trying to- okay, we both know I'm lying, but I really am here to help" he laughed again.

"Whatever, just start typing you idiot"

--

"I wonder how long it's going to take them to find me…" Asuka stared at the ceiling. In the new, slightly bigger room that her captor provided her, there was a comfortable couch. For being abandoned, this place didn't look too bad. "And who's looking for me...? Misato? Kaji? Shinji…? Are you looking for me, Shinji…?"


	3. Paler Shade of White

Chapter three!

Ha! I took a bit longer with this one, I know XP

I decided to start putting in the other characters and stuff like that. I'm also using the famous Angel from the sixteenth episode:...er... I forget it's name ;

You'll all rememeber it when you read it I assure you. Seems like this particular Angel is famous for it's use in fanfics O.o

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter. Until next time!

Music: "Monsters" Matchbook Romance, "Malaguena Salerosa" Chingon, "Moonlight Sonata" Beethoven, "Echo" Trapt, and "Six" All That Remains.

Oh, and by the way, there is something that all NGE fans have to check out if they haven't already. I guess it could be considered a doujin since it has hentai in it, but I don't consider it one :

It's a fan made 'doujin'(I still say it's a manga since there's barely any hentai in it XP)

It sticks to the story line and tells it from a whole different perspective. It's an amazing read. Check it out. It's Called Evangelion: RE-Take. I technically can't tell you how to find it, as that would be a violation of the rules X.x Try to find it on yur own or ask about it if you're interested and I'll try to help D

Once again, enjoy

Check out the AMV witht his song for Shinji and Asuka. Tis be awesome ;D

Cold, empty darkness was all around. The smell and taste of blood was thick.

"Alright, we're bringing you online, Shinji" a woman's voice came through the comms.

"Roger that" he replied simply. He just wanted this experiment to be over already. He needed to get back to looking for Asuka. Although… Being here did bring up some thoughts and memories. The cockpit of Unit 02 was, as he could easily see now, not designed for a male pilot. They had to slightly modify it so he could actually get in without crushing his… 'assets'.

"Unit 02 activation experiment starting in T-minus 4…3…2…" he could hear Maya's voice now. He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands. He could practically _feel_ her in here. For a fleeting moment, he felt as if he was in here again, fighting an Angel out in the middle of the ocean, her hands over his as they wretched it's jaw open. But he knew it was all just a result of the connections of his mind and Asuka's memories left over from the EVA unit bridging to allow him to operate the Unit.

He could feel the inside of the cockpit gradually get warmer. The lights started to come on, and the cockpit finally came to life. He felt a sharp stinging in the back of his head, like something was looking into his head. The official explanation was that it was the Unit configuring itself to a new user, and adjusting it's settings to fit the new users needs. But Shinji didn't believe it.

He believed it was the EVA sorting through his head and making sure he was worthy to pilot it in one way or another. Whatever criteria it had, he didn't know. He just knew that it couldn't just be another mechanical automation. No, this had some life behind it. He felt strength flowing through him now and the sharp pain in his head was gone now.

"She accepted me…"

"What was that, Shinji?"

"Nothing. Unit-02 is operational. Are we planning to do any tests today?" he was curious. At first, he didn't care. He just wanted to get done with this and get back to looking for Asuka. But being in this cockpit felt… good. He smiled as he felt warm arms embrace him. He knew it was all supposed to be readjustments and all that bullshit that the labs turned out, but he didn't care. It felt… _really_ good.

"Ah, yes, actually" he heard the woman's voice again. A small window opened up on his viewscreen. Ritsuko's face was in it. She had her usual no-nonsense look on her face that was always present during testing. "We've set up a field test on the surface in the mountains. Now disabling all locks. Proceed to lift four and await further instructions"

"Yes Ma'am" he nodded, and the small screen shut off. He let out sigh. Talking to her while testing was like talking to a robot. All you got in return for your questions was an answer full of jargon and a headache. He shook his head. He had other things to do now. He concentrated and moved Unit-02's foot. It felt different than Unit-01. He smiled once again as he remembered Asuka, always boasting about how her unit wasn't a prototype, and how it was the best.

Sincerely annoying at times, but then again, that was Asuka for you. He stopped at the lift and put his back to the wall. Why was he doing a field test anyway? He knew that compatibility of pilots between units was important, but couldn't this wait? He shook his head. They were probably pressed for time. He felt a jolt underneath him. He steadied the Unit by holding onto a nearby catwalk. It was still awkward moving around in Unit-02. Almost as if it was still wary of him.

"The lift will take you to the test area. We'll explain the rest when you get there, alright?" a cheerful voice filled the cockpit.

"Misato? Is that you?" Shinji smiled. Due to the work that everybody was doing with looking for Asuka, he hadn't been able to see her since it started. Hearing her voice again was strangely calming. Only a little, though. Now all he needed to do was make sure Asuka was safe. Then he could finally and sincerely relax for once.

"You know it, kid. I made sure she'd be here" a suave, and now familiar, voice made him laugh as the lift activated.

"You there too, Kaji? Still keeping Misato sane?" he joked. He heard a couple laughs from the control room and a little growl from Misato.

"Lift four launch!" Misato slammed on the button. An unprepared Shinji could be heard screaming on the comms until they cut off.

--

"There is _no way_ I'm wearing that!" Asuka growled. She had to admit that her clothes she was wearing now were getting a bit tattered and dirty, but she refused to wear what he had given her. Not directly, of course. Another of his little delivery systems had brought it to her. It was like her sundress at home. Only it was pink and had roses all over it. She might be a girl, but the tomboy in her wouldn't let her wear it.

"Hey, you don't have to. I'm just trying to be nice" an amused snigger made her clench her fists. It was the first time that he had spoken to her in an hour or two.

"There is no way in hell that I'm about to change my clothes when you could be watching" she shook her head and crossed her arms. That was the end of it. She would hear no more.

"Oh c'mon. Don't I get at least a little more credit?" a mocking tone could be heard in his voice. She tried to ignore him, but he just had a way of getting to her.

"Just shut up!" she stood up and threw the dress across the room. She couldn't take much more of this. What was taking them so long? NERV had agents and networks all over Earth. Then it hit her. That's what she failed to realize earlier. They were searching for her down there. They had probably not even considered space. She dropped down and sat on the ground, her legs a little weak from the sudden realization.

She ignored his mocking laughter for once and instead turned her gaze to Earth.

"Please… hurry…" she hated to be the damsel in distress, but there was nothing she could do.

--

"Testing field ready! Test starts in five minutes, people. Let's at least try to be ready" the head technician grinned as he pointed to where people had to go and helped set up equipment. He noticed a lot of the staff who had never seen an EVA stared across the plain at Unit-02. A couple of them were gaping, but got back to work quickly.

Shinji watched the scene from afar. He still felt really good in here. He smiled as they finished setting up the observation equipment.

"Yo, Shinji! How's it going in there?" he heard Kaji's voice through the comms.

"Pretty good, Kaji. Are we going to the range today? I could use something to vent frustration" he chuckled as he said this. Everyone who heard him say this knew he wasn't kidding though. Looking frantically and not finding any leads or even mentions of Asuka was stressing him out.

"Sure. After that we can both go and help Misato out in the Computer Lab on our side, eh?"

"Yeah, sure" he smiled and flashed a thumbs up, knowing the people in the control room could see him.

"Test starts in exactly…. One minute!" the head technician paused to look at his watch and time it exactly.

"Shinji" Ritsuko's voice came through the comms next. He could tell she had her head in the game.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I will quickly run through how this exercise will work. Your weapon is filled with blank, or dummy, rounds. Your prog knife is a blunt model. Neither will kill. We will count whatever hits you get with either your knife or your rifle. We will monitor how any hits Unit-02 takes. When you take too many hits, we will end the exercise. Other than that, do your best. Oh, and Shinji?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Good luck"

"Yes, ma'am!" he smiled. She was never cheerful, not even in the least bit, during testing. It wasn't much, but it meant a lot to him. As to whether she was talking about the test or his search for information, he didn't know.

"We're bringing out the targets now. They-" the man's voice was cut off. There could only be three reasons for that: One, equipment failure. There was nothing around to cause that. Two, Shinji manually cutting off the channels, which he didn't. Or three, a more urgent matter was at hand. He had his suspicions, and as soon as the alarm began blaring through the speakers, he knew what it was.

Before Misato even opened his mouth, he had already disconnected the external power source plug from the back of the EVA and was running towards the city.

--

"What the hell was the observation post at Mt. Fuji doing?!" Misato threw her jacket onto the back of a chair. This was the worst possible time.

"They didn't detect anything! It just suddenly appeared above us!" Aoba shouted back to her as Maya and Hyuga's hands flew across the keyboard.

Hyuga paused for a second "That doesn't make sense…"

"What doesn't?" Misato and Ritsuko both looked at him right away.

"The pattern is orange. No AT field detected. If that's an Angel, it's a new one on me" he scratched his head then leaned back down and resumed typing.

"Where's Shinji?" Misato was busy bent over Hyuga's shoulder checking the details.

"Already on the move. That's my boy" Kaji grinned as he watched Shinji's service tag move across the map. "He's headed straight for it"

--

"Shit…" Shinji swore quietly as he leapt over another line of cars. He made sure to coordinate himself so as not to step on any. People gave Unit-02 a wide birth in the street. This all happened to fast. They hadn't gotten a warning or anything. More than half of the west district was still here. He leapt again from the crowded street into a street still in construction.

_Suzuhara construction…? Toji's father maybe?_ He shrugged the thought away and continued towards the spot on the minimap on the Unit's HUD.

"Shinji! We're sending Rei up as backup. She should be there in about thirty seconds" Misato sounded a bit tense. And it was understandable. He was feeling it himself more than just a little bit.

"Alright. Thanks, Misato" he nodded. He slid to a stop. This was where the map said the Angel-or whatever it was- was supposed to be. "Where is it…? I don't see any- holy shit!" Shinji jumped a bit as a strange black and white orb materialized in front of him.

"We have visual confirmation of the angel! Unit-00 arriving in five… four… three… two… Unit 00 has arrived in the east district! West district still evacuating. Rei, make your way to the west district and back Shinji up"

"Yes, ma'am" came the cool, stoic reply.

"What should I do, Misato?" she flicked over to Shinji's camera and saw he had Unit-02 hooked up to another external power source, and that he was pressed up against the wall with his rifle in hand.

"It's too dangerous to engage in combat just yet. The west district is almost evacuated, but there are still some civilians left. Just wait for now"

"Alright" Shinji sighed. This entire situation was making him tense. He felt as if two warm hands rested on his shoulders, and soft breath on the back of his neck. Her scent… it was back. He sighed and relaxed back into the cockpit seat. "Thank you, Asuka…"

"What did you say, Shinji?"

"Nothing…" he smiled softly. His thoughts turned to the events that occurred a couple nights ago.

--

"_Hey, Shinji?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_You want to kiss?"_

"_What?"_

"_Kiss. A kiss. You've never kissed before, have you?"_

_He shook his head at her question._

"_Then let's do it"_

"_What?!"_

"_What's the matter?" she teased, smirking and leaning forward. "Don't want a kiss on the anniversary of your mother's death? Afraid she'll be looking down on us from heaven?"_

"_No…" there was no way that could have happened…_

"_Oh! Then you're scared of kissing" she giggled and teased him forward._

"_I'm not scared!" he stood up abruptly and glared at her. He was full of determination and resolve._

"_Alright, then let's do it… You brushed your teeth, right?"_

_A simple nod was all he gave her in return._

_She nodded and they both took a step closer to each other. Although he was full of confidence before, now it seemed to be wavering. He noticed that the same thing seemed to be happening with her. They moved slowly moved closer and closer, almost touching, until she paused._

"_Don't breathe through your nose… it tickles" Shinji gulped at the way she was blushing and her facial expression. There was an awkward pause, then Asuka grabbed his nose and held it shut. Before Shinji had time to ask what she was doing, her lips were pressed over his. It seemed like whatever initiative Asuka had taken was out of impulse. She had no idea what she was doing._

_Shinji moved his lips a little and was pleased with the little squeak he got in return. He moved his lips a little more and started to notice he was running out of breath. His actions inspired her to begin to move her lips too. Shinji was grateful that she was just as much of an amateur at kissing as he was. Then again, he couldn't breathe at all._

_He was about to pass out when Asuka let go of his nose and broke away from the kiss. He gasped for air and was panting. He looked up to her and saw she was panting as well. The blush on her face made her look too cute, and the way she was panting forced him to look away from her. He looked down at his crotch._

'_Down, boy! Down' _

_He noticed Asuka was staring at him expectantly. His hand started moving towards hers, but he didn't want to stand up straight. 'Too embarrassing…' he closed his eyes. Then he heard the sound of quick footsteps. He looked up to see Asuka gone. He heard gargling in the bathroom and the sound of water being spit out. "Yuck! I shouldn't have done that to kill time after all!"_

"_Oh, thanks… that gives me a lot of confidence…" he muttered, sighing._

--

"…inji? Shinji? Can you hear me?"

"Huh? What?"

"Shinji! Hello! Wake up!" Misato's voice filled the cockpit as she yelled at him.

"Okay! Okay! Is Rei in position yet?" he threw out the first thing he could think of.

"Yes, brother. I'm here" her calm voice was the polar opposite of Misato, who he could hear screaming at whoever it was in the control room that pissed her off.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned… and Misato is a whole lotta woman…" Shinji muttered, feeling genuine pity and concern for whatever poor soul was about to face the wrath of the 'Purple Demon'.

"What was that?!"

"N-Nothing! Can we engage the enemy in combat yet?" he grasped for something desperately once again, trying to save his ass before she got something on him.

"Huh? Oh yeah! The civilians are evacuated" now she sounded cheery. Shinji was worried. Perhaps she was bipolar? Oh well. No time to worry about that now.

"Alright! I'll go in for the attack. Cover me alright, Rei?"

"Yes, brother"

Misato sighed. This whole situation was already extremely stressful. She hoped combat went well.

"Damn… why is the commander always absent when this stuff happens?" Misato shook her head.

--

"Do you think they're getting too close…?" Fuyutsuki scratched his chin as he and Gendo watched the ensuing events.

"Maybe a bit… but it can be overlooked for now" Gendo brushed it off and instead watched what Shinji did.

"Overlooked?" that surprised Fuyutsuki. Usually Gendo was completely serious about all things involving Rei. He put the questions he had into the back of his mind and turned back to the screen. "He became accustomed to the controls rather quickly, didn't he? He's only been in there one other time and that time he wasn't piloting. There's no doubt he was born to pilot"

"Of course. With the background he has, his upbringing makes him the perfect pilot. You know, of course, why we selected these particular pilots, don't you?"

"Refresh my memory" Fuyutsuki had a sneaking suspicion, but he could never really confirm it.

"We choose emotionally detached teenagers. Not unlike bullies, we seek those who have suffered past traumas or are considered weak to pilot. With the exception of Rei, of course"

"And may I ask why?"

"Of course. We select these particular children because the factor of the independence they feel and unstable emotions enhance their piloting abilities. Within a certain limit, of course. If their emotions are too uncontrolable they won't be efficient in combat. In truth, any one of the candidates from Tokyo-3 high could have piloted Unit-01 if they were accepted by 'her', but we chose Shinji because he has a connection with her. The strongest connection, perhaps. And as for Soryu… Her emotional background with the loss of her mother and the fact that she has built up walls to keep anyone from seeing how broken she truly is makes her try harder. That and you know Unit-02's history, do you not?"

"Of course" Fuyutsuki stiffened up at the mention of it.

"Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu… Surely you remember her?"

"Yes. The leader of the German branch of Project E and the mother of Soryu Asuka Langley. During the contact experiment with Unit 02, she suffered a similar fate to Yui Ikari, the scientist used in the contact experment with 01. Her body was recovered, however, and she was alive, but she was incoherent when they pulled her out. Her mental state was broken when they first put her in the hospital, and it only got worse until she committed suicide by hanging in her hospital room" Fuyutsuki recited it just as he had heard it so many years ago.

"Yes… It was a shame. She was a good scientist and a good woman. Very kind, and could make one hell of a dinner, I'll tell you that" Gendo chuckled softly.

Fuyutsuki eyed him strangely. Now _this_ was scary. Not only was the commander letting the issue of Rei and Shinji getting close off the hook, but now here was reminiscing and _making jokes_? He cleared his throat.

"Gendo?"

"Yes, Kōzō?"

"Are you dying?"

"What?"

"Nothing"

--

"Rei, are you in position with the rifle?" Shinji whispered to himself, his anxiety getting the better of him. It was recommended that they maintain radio silence. He was waiting for the green acknowledgement light in the corner of the display. He clenched his fist as the seconds ticked by and seemed like eternity. A small _ping_ and a flash of green in the corner made him grin. The sooner they took care of this the better.

He switched the comms back on and brought Unit-02 back up to it's feet. "Unit-02, now commencing attack!" he informed them, and withdrew from cover. He fired at the Angel.

_Hmm… that's strange… Where's the usual kickback? That seemed to li- oh shit!_

"Shinji! Pull back! You're fighting with dummy weapons!" he heard Misato's frantic voice as the blank rounds struck the target.

"The signature is gone! Target vanished and assumed destroyed" Hyuga informed everyone.

"That easily…?" Shinji's voice was full of disbelief filled the room and reflected the general mood.

"Well done" Misato said, her voice heavily laced with disbelief "Mission accomplished. Return to b-"

"Signature is back! Confirmed blue!" Hyuga interrupted her and spun around to look at the screen. "Beneath you, Shinji!" Beneath you!"

"What are you- huh? W-what the hell is this?" his voice was shaky as the ground began to darken. "A shadow? A-Ah! My feet! I can't feel my feet!" he could be seen tugging at the ground, to no avail. The ground continued to darken as he struggled. Unit-02 began to sink rapidly. "My legs! I can't feel my legs! What is this? Misato! Rei! ASUKA!"

"Shinji! Get out of there!"

"Brother! Hold on, I'm coming!" Rei dropped the rifle she was holding and leapt up from her position on top of a building. She leapt down and ran towards him. For once in the long history of her life, she had lost her cool. She gritted her teeth as she pushed herself to make Unit-00 to move as fast as was possible.

"Rei! Help! It's… cold… It's creeping up my spine!" Shinji yelled frantically. Rei gasped at what she saw. He was being pulled down into the darkness by some unknown force. It had already swallowed Unit-02 from the waist down and his arms were beginning to sink as well.

"Hold on! I'll do something!" she looked around. She felt something she had never felt before: cold fear at the fact that she couldn't do anything, and burning hatred at herself for the very same reason. She didn't want to-no couldn't give up.

"Rrg! No!" Shinji's struggling was renewed as he struggled to pull his arms out of the darkness. He just barely managed to get his right arm out. "I… I…" his arm reached skyward, towards the bright shining sun. He clenched his hand into a fist slowly as the darkness swallowed Unit-02 up to the head. Rei watched, horrified, as the last thing she saw was the red fingers of Unit-02 disappear into god knows what.

"Brother...? Brother! BROTHER! Hold on!" she was desperate now. She wouldn't believe it was too late. She looked back and forth, grabbing a steel girder from the nearby construction site and bent the end before plunging it in. She felt intense suction on it, but she planted her feet and held it steady.

"Rei… Retreat from the combat zone"

Rei growled as she was issued this order. Even if it was from a superior officer, she couldn't follow it. "No"

"Retreat…"

"No"

"Retreat!"

"No!"

"RETREAT! THAT IS A DIRECT ORDER!"

"NO! I WON'T! I HAVE TO SAVE-"

"And what are you going to gain by staying there and getting pulled in as well? Huh? Can you answer me? We need to retreat, regroup, and make a plan"

Rei growled again, her grip on the steel girder loosening. Misato was right. As her mind processed the thought, her grip continued to slacken on the piece of metal until she released it completely and it was drawn into the darkness, just as Unit-02 had been. She watched it as it was slowly sucked in and the darkness shrunk away. As if to taunt her, the black and white shadow in the sky reassumed its shape and hovered, unmoving and silent.

--

"Where am I…?" Shinji opened his eyes. His was throbbing with pain and he felt cold. He noticed that the EVA had switched itself to minimal power drain to preserve his life. He moved his hands back to the controls and activated it. "W-What is this?"

As far as the eye could see, there was white.

"Have I finally gone insane?" he joked bitterly. The last thing he remembered was…

"_Shinji! Get out of there!_

"Oh yeah…" he shook his head and held it in pain as his temples continued to throb. "So I have no idea where I am, whether or not I'm even still alive, and why I don't have some Advil…" he chuckled. "Look at me, eh? Here I am, possibly dead, and all I can do is be sarcastic"

He laid back in the cockpit chair and closed his eyes.

"I'm not dead, are I Askua…?" his voice faded to a whisper as he slowly fell asleep.

--

Asuka sat on the ground, her legs on either side of her as the cold steel could easily be felt through the rear of her skirt. She had chosen to wear a two piece schoolgirl outfit to the party. It had been a change. A costume party at that time of year. It was fun though. She had to admit that. She laid her hand on the thick glass of the window as she gazed down on the planet below her.

She suddenly felt something, deep in her chest. "Shinji…?"

She didn't know how she knew and she didn't know why. But there was something wrong down there. "Good luck"


	4. Family matters

Chapter 4! OoO Is shocked face with mouth open XD

I had a hell of a time writing this one, I'll tell you that! D

It was pretty fun and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Anyway, I'll be changing some things around soon. One of which has already happened. Instead of Rei calling Shinji "Brother", I'm switching it to "Onii-san" because I think it's cuter and it reminds me of my little sister and family back home

Well, I don't know what else to say other than I hope you have fun reading this, and that the next part will be up soon.

I also thought I'd quickly adress a couple questions that several people have asked me.

1. I'm not really sure how many chapters this story will span. It'll go on for as long as it has to D

2. The story started a bit after episode fifteen of the anime and goes from sixteen onwards

3. Do I plan to use the endings from Eoe or the series? Hell no I didn't really like the endings to either of them. That's why this fanfic exists D So that I, the fickle fan of the series, can have everything go y way XD

4. I will reveal the antagonist, his motives, feelings, purpose, and all of that stuff soon.

Have fun guys w

Music(All of which can be found on the Newgrounds Audio Portal except for one): "Cello Suite" Bach(the one), "Lazy Summer Days" Cornandbeans, "Liberated" nal1200, and "POTC Megamix" Nintechno

"You… know the news, correct, Rei?" Misato spoke softly, her gaze turned to her feet. The sun had almost vanished over the horizon by now. The mystical and magical hour known as Twilight to some. It felt strange to be giving Rei this news at this particular time during the day.

"Yes…"

"And…?"

"I don't care. I'll do whatever it takes to save Onii-san"

"Alright… And Rei?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry" Misato kept her eyes closed as she stepped into the impromptu field command center. "Any news?"

"Not yet, ma'am" even the normally aloof Hyuga was completely serious. The atmosphere in the small room was grim.

"Does Rei know?" Ritsuko lowered her glasses a bit as she turned from the computer screen to look at Misato.

"Yes… She found out on her own that the umbilical power cord was disconnected when we pulled it out" Misato felt terrible. They should have known something. Anything about the Angel that would have helped Shinji. In her eyes, she had sent him in with dummy weapons and no intel whatsoever. Her teacher had once told her during training:

"_If you're going to drop into hell, at least drop with some intel"_

"Do we have a plan yet?" She saw it all as her fault, and now she was going to do her best to fix all of this. _"... Whatever it takes…"_

"Not yet. We still don't fully understand the Angel itself. We're still doing research, but it should be done in little over ten minutes from now" Ritsuko didn't turn her back as she said this. She didn't want to look at her friend right now, her friend who was beating herself up over all of this. Surely the news would make her anxious and scared. "Come back in about ten minutes, with Rei. I guarantee we'll have a plan by then… He's still got a while on life support. We'll figure something out"

"I know we will"

--

"It's cold in here…" Shinji muttered, sighing and opening his eyes. He shook his head and sat up. There was nothing to do in here, trapped, clinging to life support. "Couldn't they at least have made these plugsuits a bit warmer? I'm freezing my balls off here…" he chuckled briefly. That was one of the first things Fuyutsuki had taught him.

"_In high stress situations, you can be your own worst enemy. Paranoia, doubt, self-consciousness… All of these things can destroy even the most prepared warrior"_

He had taught Shinji exercises, like breathing and mental games to keep himself sane. He sighed and took in a deep breath. "I must look like an idiot, eh?" he chuckled again.

"_It may seem stupid, but talking to yourself in these situations is a solid method of calming yourself down"_

"_But how, sensei?"_

"_Simple. It's human nature. Even humans that are anti-social long for contact. Whether it's just being acknowledged or being immersed in the events, humans need contact. Even if it's just yourself, making jokes, talking to yourself about recent events, and even singing songs you know can be a big help in a psychological situation such as these"_

"Thank you, sensei…" he smiled softly. He was right; Hearing the sound of someone speaking, even if it was just himself made him feel a bit better. "But now… how the hell am I supposed toget out of here? Huh? What's tha-"

--

"Can we get any readings from Unit-02?" Ritsuko asked once again, her glasses tucked into her coat pocket.

"Not much, sempai" Maya shook her head softly "Wait… Yes! Unit-02 is still active! And it seems it's on life support mode" she turned around with a big smile on her face. The atmosphere in the command center lightened up a bit. Everyone was just glad to know that Shinji was still alive. And that there was a possibility of getting him back.

"What's all the commotion about?" Misato stepped through the doorway as it slid open for her. She had Rei right behind her with a determined and concentrated look on her face.

"Shinji… He's still alive!" Maya was the one who ended up saying it. Everyone was excited and happy. Moreso than they probably imagined themselves being. "Not only that, but we understand the Angel now. We've devised a plan to get him out!"

Although the atmosphere was still cheery, and the good news was pouring out, Ritsuko's smile turned sour. She had hoped it wouldn't come to this. Rei and Misato… They'd probably never forgive her for this. But it was the only thing they could do. She tried everything else. Absolutely everything, yet it only came to this.

"Yes, we have a plan. Everyone, please come with me to the Planning Center so that I may debrief you all on the upcoming operation" she turned and walked past Misato and Rei. She put her glasses on as she walked towards the 'Planning Center'. It was actually only a whiteboard and some seats. She couldn't look them in the face. Nor would she be able to for a long time.

--

Shinji opened his eyes. He groaned and touched his head. It was throbbing with pain. He felt cool, wet grass on his cheek and opened his eyes.

"Huh? What is all this?" he sat up quickly, regretting it immediately as he clutched his sensitive head. "Owowowow…" he shook himself briefly and looked around. He was in the middle of a field. The wind was blowing and giving the warm day a nice cool temperature. Like spring would be if they still had it. He closed his eyes for a second. This place was beautiful. That's what he _would_ be thinking if he wasn't busy with wondering where he was.

"Huh?" he heard a shrill sound. It started out high, then slowly descended. It took a moment to register in his mind that it was someone playing the violin. He looked left and right, all around himself trying to find who was playing. He didn't see anyone, but the song continued. "Pachelbel's Canon…"

He closed his eyes and listened for a moment. His gaze shot over to a nearby hill. On it was a tree, and something was connected to the tree. Something yellow… "Wait a minute…!" it wasn't connected to the tree. It was behind the tree. And that shade of yellow… Could it be? He was running before he realized it. Every step he took made his head throb in pain, but he didn't care right now. As he got closer to the tree, the song got louder.

_Is it her? Is it?_

Shinji started running up the hillside. It wasn't especially steep and was easy to move up. The further he moved up, the more of who was behind the tree became visible. "I knew it!" that sundress. It was hers! By now, he had moved up enough to see the persons back. That hair! There was no doubt.

"Asuka!"

"Hmm?" the playing stopped. The person was sitting on a tree stump with her back to Shinji. She relaxed and let her hand with her violin drop to her side. She set her bow down on the trunk next to her and turned.

"Asuka, I- Huh?" Shinji stopped when he saw the persons face. Now that he thought about it, she seemed a bit taller than Asuka. And now that he was closer he noticed her hair was longer too. There was a wide smile on her face. Although it was clear by looking at her that she was older than he was-maybe even as old as his mother would be if she was still alive-she was still beautiful.

"Oh my, how you've grown" her voice was soft, yet bold at the same time. She laughed softly as she looked Shinji up and down. "You've turned into a fine young man, haven't you?" she smiled even brighter. She looked almost exactly like Asuka. Only she was older, and… her eyes weren't blue.

"Could you be…?"

"Yes, Shinji" he was a bit surprised at the fact that she used his name. "I am. I know you. I saw you when you were still wearing diapers" she laughed at that one. Shinji's face got slightly red, but he continued listening. "My name is Soryu Kyoko Zeppelin. Sorry, I like to use my full name" she giggled "And I am Asuka's mother"

--

"You know, if you think about it, either way it's good for me"

"Shut up"

"Because if you stay like that, I've got a beautiful young woman in a sexy school girl outfit…"

"I said shut up"

"… and if you change, you're in a nice sundress that goes well with your figure and looks"

"I thought I told you to shut up!" Asuka growled. She had appreciated the hours of silence between the two from earlier, but now he was back and teasing her like before.

"Aww, c'mon! Just because I kidnapped you doesn't mean we can't be friends" he laughed quietly, obviously trying to suppress it from getting out.

Asuka kept her eyes closed, not responding to him. She sat down on the ground and refused to speak.

"Aw, what now? Am I getting the cold shoulder? Oh, that's too bad. I was just about to fill you in on what's happened to your friends, too…" she could practically _smell_ the satisfied smirk on his face.

"What? What happened to them! Tell me!" she stood up, yelling at the ceiling. Whatever cameras or microphones he had would surely let him see her. She didn't care that what she was doing was satisfying him right now. She just wanted to know what was going on.

"Hmmmm… I don't know. Perhaps I should give you the cold shoulder. It would be rather fitting, wouldn't it? Seeing as how you did the same thing, and you've been nothing but rude to me even though I've been taking care of you"

Asuka's eyes widened desperately "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I've been so mean! I'll be nicer from now on. I promise! Please tell me what happened!" she couldn't believe she had to say all of that. If he was just messing with her, she wa sgoing to find him and kill him herself.

"That's a good girl" he chuckled and cleared his throat. He paused briefly as some rustling could be heard, then he got back on the mic. "Well then! Let's see just what happened here… 'Third Child to test sortie in Unit-02' okay, okay…."

"Huh?" Asuka was confused. Why were they having him use her Unit-02?

"'Unit-02 test sortie interrupted' uh huh, uh huh… 'Angel attack in west district' yes, yes…. Aha! Here we go!" he cleared his throat again "'Unit-02 forcibly absorbed by Angel. Pilot status unknown'" he laughed as he finished reading whatever he was reading.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Asuka shouted at him. She didn't understand. Inside, though, she knew it was true. The feeling she got earlier… she knew why she got it now. "Shinji… Please be alright…" she wrapped her arms around herself, holding herself as if in a hug as she sunk down to her knees and brought her head down to the floor.

--

"Asuka's mother?! Wow… the LCL must be funky… If not, then I _must_ be crazy" Shinji scratched his chin. "Wouldn't she be an old woman by now…? Well, she does look kinda old…"

"I'm right here, ya know" Kyoko had her eyes closed and spoke calmly with that sort of passive anger in her voice.

"Sorry! You just look kinda old is all. That's not to say you're not beautiful" he sat back down on the grass as he spoke.

"Oh, thank you sweetie" she giggled and relaxed back, sliding her hand along the back of her violin.

"Well… If I'm not going crazy, could you please explain to me where I am, what's going on, and why I'm here?"

"Sure, sweetie" she giggled again and patted him on the head. "You're where you were. Where I am, too. All you see around you, the grass you're sitting on, the tree, the entire field, is in Unit-02"

"In Unit-02?"

"Well, not inside of it per say. More along the lines of a space created within my mind" she scratched her chin "Well you know how Evangelions are created, don't you?"

"No ma'am" he sat up a bit more. This made him curious.

"Well, Shinji, with Evangelions, it's a bit different than making a machine. While yes, there is a lot of machinery involved, the mechanical automations aren't what make it move. The final piece of an Evangelion… The thing that brings it to life is a simple, yet extremely powerful and valuable thing: A human soul"

"What?" Shinji was confused now, and a bit shocked at what she had said.

"Yes, a human soul. You see, without a soul, an Evangelion is just a immobile machine. Every Evangelion that I knew of had a soul in it. With the exception of Unit-00. My soul, or at least part of it, is in Unit-02, and in Unit-01 was my dear friend, Yui Ikari. Your mother"

"M-My mother is in Unit-01?" he was really shocked now, his mouth hanging open slightly as his brain struggled to process the information. _Is that why there wasn't a corpse?_ he closed his eyes. If it was true, why hadn't his father told him? Why was he left in the dark? As strange as it was, it made sense. When he was in trouble, whether in battle or just trouble at school or in life, he always felt better when he was in the cockpit of Unit-01. Like something-or someone- was there, watching him and consoling him. Of course, that feeling evaporated almost completely when the real fighting began.

"Yes. Your mother. How is your father, by the way? How is Gendo?"

"What?"

"Gendo. How is the old man?" she set her violin down in a case that Shinji had failed to notice while he mistook her for Asuka.

"I-I wouldn't know…"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Gendo was up to no good"

--

"Ha choo!" Gendo sneezed, rubbing his nose afterwards.

"Catching a cold?" Fuyutsuki asked him as he moved a piece forward in their shogi game.

"No… I could have sworn that someone was talking about me…" Gendo scratched the back of his head and shrugged, moving a piece forward as well.

"What are we going to do about your son and Unit-02?" Fuyutsuki paused to observe the board and come up with a strategy.

"Oh that? He'll be fine" Gendo sipped from a cup of tea.

"Is that all you're going to say? Check"

"Yep. He's an Ikari. It'll take a hell of a lot more to put him out of commission. You know him, Kōzō. He's a genius, even if he doesn't realize it yet. He can take care of himself. Trust me. Oh, and I don't think so" Gendo smirked as he knocked a piece off of the board.

"Hmm?! You were waiting for me to do that, weren't you?"

"Shinji may be more of a tactical genius than me, but I'm still pretty damn smart"

--

"So that shadow is the main part of the Angel?" Misato couldn't understand all of the calculations and jargon on the board, but she had gotten the gist of the explanation.

"Yes, about 680 meters in diameter and three nanometers thick. It sustains this super-thin space with an inverted AT field, and inside there is a massive imaginary space called 'Dirac's Ocean'. It might be connected to another space" Ritsuko pointed out her calculations as she went along with her explanation.

"What's that sphere then?" Misato glared over at it. She was going to fix this…

"It should disappear when the main body is destroyed. The floating object is nothing but an illusion"

"The black shadow that sucked Unit-02 in is our real target…?" Misato didn't understand most of it, but what she did understand angered her. If they had just been faster in analyzing the threat… If _she_ had just been faster, then Shinji would still be here…

"What's the plan?" Rei finally spoke up. Everyone turned to look at her. Not just because she was usually silent, but because now that she was speaking, her voice had a different tone than usual… Instead of her usual soft-spoken self, her voice sounded more demanding and slightly angry. Like Asuka could at times.

"The plan..? Yes, the plan…" Ritsuko sighed and closed her eyes. Now that she thought about it, no one was going to like this. She opened her eyes eventually. It was a necessary evil. "The plan is…"

--

"And Yui and Gendo used to come over for dinner all the time!" Kyoko laughed as she spoke with Shinji. "Gendo used to try so hard to be polite. He had to be! Me and Yui were both pregnant. Every time he or my husband did something wrong, we chewed them out" she laughed again. Even Shinji cracked a smile at that. He could just imagine his father trying his hardest not to cross them. It also made him shiver.

_Pregnant women are scary…_

"Really? Wow… The way he is right now, I can't imagine him being like that…" Shinji leaned back onto his hands as he looked up to the sky. How long had he been here? It seemed like forever.

"Yes, I know. I've only seen him through my new eyes a couple times. Even then, he never speaks. It seems like he's changed so much" she sighed "He used to be completely smitten with Yui. They were such a cute couple! Not unlike two certain children are now…" there was a teasing tone in her voice as she looked over at Shinji with a smirk on her face.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" he sat up straight, his face red.

"Oh, come now Shinji! You know how EVA's work! In order for it to move, the pilot's mind must synchronize with mine. Every time you sync with a Unit, we can see right into your minds" she giggled again "I've seen the thoughts you have about her… ALL of them" she giggled again.

"What?! I don't have those kinds of thoughts about Asuka!"

"Who said I was talking about Asuka…?"

"Grk!"

"Gotha!" Kyoko grinned triumphantly. She was acting like a child. He smiled as he watched her. He could see where Asuka got all of her energy.

"You're pretty active for your ag- Ow!" Shinji rubbed the top of his head after Kyoko slapped him on it.

"What's that supposed to mean…?"

"Nothing!" he could see where Asuka got her fiery personality, too.

_My god… If she's like that now, what was she like when she was pregnant…? Dad… I suddenly have a great pity for you_ Shinji shook his head. He couldn't imagine what that must have been like.

"At any rate… I trust you Shinji" she patted him on the head. She rubbed the spot where she had just slapped him. Shinji watched, slightly confused. The expression on her face and the way she was rubbing his head were very… well, motherly. "I know you care about her a lot, and Asuka… Well… Let's just keep that as a surprise" she winked.

"Wait! No! I want to know!"

"It's time for you to go, Shinji! Bye now!"

"Huh? Wait, no!" Shinji was starting to lift off of the grass.

"Whether or not you get out of here depends on your own strength" she suddenly seemed serious as he was floating away.

"My own strength…?"

"Bye bye Shinji! Take good care of Asuka,and make sure to make lots of grandchildren!"

"Wh-WHAT?!"

"Bye now!"

--

"Rei! Rei, calm down!" Misato, Maya, and Hyuga were struggling to restrain her. Although she was a pale, skinny, frail looking girl, she had a hell of a lot of strength. Rei was growling and pulling at them, trying to rip free of their grips to get at Ritsuko.

"I'm sorry…. I'm sorry, everyone… I tried everything. I really did… This is the only thing we can do" Ritsuko couldn't look up into their faces. She kept her gaze towards the ground. Aoba was helping her up, the red handprint on the side of her face apparent.

"I'll save Onii-san! I'll save him myself!" Rei threw a poor, unsuspecting Hyuga from her arm into a wall. His head was spinning and he was struggling to get up as Rei threw Maya and Misato off of her, breaking into a sprint towards Unit-00. She hopped into the entry plug and took her seat in the cockpit.

"Unit-00, activation" her eyes narrowed as Unit-00 stood up the plug inserted itself into Unit-00. She turned and took off running towards the Angel, the rifle she had used before in her hand.

"Rei! Come back! We have to stop her!" Misato looked back and forth between the technicians and Ritsuko. They stood there, staring for a second, before snapping to it and running for their consoles.

"No, let her go" Ritsuko said simply. Everyone stopped again and looked to her. Everyone's opinions of her weren't too high at the current moment. They understood that the plan she had formulated was the only thing that they could do, but it was her who came up with it and her who announced it.

"Let her go? So she can get sucked into that damn Angel as well? I don't think so!"

"Misato… You couldn't understand the connection between those two… Let her go. If anyone can help him, it would be her" Ritsuko replied mysteriously. Everyone was still stopped, looking at the two of them.

"Rrrrg…. GODDAMMIT!" Misato slammed her fists down on a console and dropped to the ground, unable to stand up anymore. "This is such a mess…"

--

"Alright! I'll do it! I'll do it! So please… Please tell me what's going on down there now!" Asuka ran across the room and snatched the pink sundress off of the ground.

"That's better. I can finally get some respect around here" he chuckled darkly. He sighed as he relaxed into whatever he was sitting in. "Go ahead, I'm waiting"

"A-Alright…" Asuka blushed as she turned her head to the side. Sure, all he was going to see was her bra and panties, but still, it was a lot of skin. Her hands were shaking slightly as they moved to her shirt. She clenched her jaw and quickly threw her shirt off. Her hand moved down to her skirt, unhooking it at the side and letting it fall down. She slid the sundress over her head and fixed it quickly, making sure it was okay looking. "There! Please!"

"Okay, okay" he yawned and moved around. The rustling could be heard as he moved something. "Let's see here… Oh! They have a plan for getting your friend out!"

"Really?" Asuka looked up towards where she thought a camera might be. The weight that had been bearing down on her had suddenly lifted. Everything was going to be okay down there!

"Yep. Oh, wait… Look at this!"

"Look at what?" she had a bad feeling about this…

"The plan is-ahem" he cleared his throat "'Drop all existing 992 N2 bombs into the angel and have Unit-00 infiltrate the space for a millisecond to pull Unit-02 out. Unit-02 integrity will hold, chance of pilot's survival is less than 2'" he finished reading it off. It started out as a small laugh, but got louder. "That sure doesn't sound good!"

"What?! They wouldn't…!" Asuka couldn't believe what she had just heard. Misato wouldn't allow that. But… the Commander's word was final.

"According to this, the priority of the operation is 'compulsory salvage of EVA Unit-02. The pilot's life cannot be taken into account' Oh well, there goes Shinji, eh…?"

"No! They wouldn't! I know they wouldn't!" Asuka felt like she was about to puke. Hearing that one of her friends was going to die and there was nothing anyone could do… nothing _she_ could do… it made her feel sick.

_Friend? He's my… friend?_ Asuka stopped to think about it. She nodded. She cared about him because she was one of her best friends. She wouldn't say that in front of a crowd-hell, probably not even one person-but she knew it was true. He was a friend she could always count on. And now, when he needed help the most, she couldn't do a thing about it. Not only that, but if she had been there, it would have been different. He wouldn't be in Unit-02…

"I think you'll find that people from NERV are very different than you'd think…" he growled. Asuka was surprised at herself. The tone of his voice scared her. He sounded very angry. Had he ever been involved with them? A lot of questions were formulating in her mind as he spoke "Don't ever expect someone else to do the right thing for you. It'll only end up bad" the comms clicked off.

She turned her gaze back to the planet below them. Was he dead?

"No… I'd know it if he was dead…"

--

_Where am I? This isn't the same place is it? It's dark here… _

Shinji opened his eyes. He felt exhausted for some reason. Just lifting his eyelids seemed demanding. He didn't feel anything beneath him. Not the grass, nor the seat of Unit-02's cockpit. It felt like he was floating. He looked around himself, seeing nothing but darkness.

"Is this where I really am? What's going on?" he finally found his voice. He tried sitting up, but he didn't have it in him. His strength seemed to have abandoned him. The sound of a violin brought him back to reality. It was Pachelbel's Canon again. "Miss Kyoko…?" maybe she was trying to show him something?

"Shinji…" he opened his eyes wide. There was no mistaking it. It was her. He forced himself to sit up more, looking out across the darkness. Sure enough, she was there. He strained with his body, fighting against the pain and exhaustion that was racking his body.

"Asuka!" he reached out to her. She was floating in front of him, a gentle smile on her face. It was that same gentle smile that made him relax when he was on edge. The smile that she almost never showed. The smile that she only ever showed to him.

She was humming along with the violin. Shinji brought his arm up slowly, reaching out to her "Asuka! I'm coming! Don't worry!" he growled at the pain, trying to get it out of his mind. She giggled softly at his words. She closed her eyes and slowly started to fade away.

"No! Asuka! I'm sorry! I'll get you back! I'll make sure you're safe and I'll take care of you! ASUKA!" he closed his eyes and screamed his lungs out as he felt a cold numbness start to envelop him. He looked at his arms and his chest. Tendrils of darkness were pulling him away from her, devouring them into the pitch black nothingness. He pulled and tugged at them, struggling to break free. "I swear it! No matter what it takes!" he screamed one more time as the tendrils wrapped around his face, covering his eyes and mouth. He felt a cold, dreadful feeling as he was pulled away.

"…_**ther…. Father…"**_

--

"Unit-00 is engaging the Angel! Bringing it up on the monitors" Hyuga's fingers rapidly stabbed at the console as he transferred the image to the main screen. The staff turned to see the main screen go from various mathematical jargon to a live feed.

"Unit-00 is-huh? Wait, what's going on?!" Maya yelped as the ground began to shake. She fell backwards, knocking Aoba and Misato down. Hyuga stayed still by gripping the console.

"What's happening?" he held on tight as the shaking began to get progressively worse. The shadow in the sky seemed to be convulsing. The black and white stripes disappeared from it. Instead, they were now replaced with thick pulsing red veins. The darkness appeared on the ground for a moment, but faded away as the sphere's convulsions began to get more and more violent.

"Rei! What's happening?! What did you do?" Misato held onto an overturned table and yelled into one of the radios.

"I didn't do anything!" Rei seemed as surprised as everyone else. She herself was watching the sphere in the sky with awe and confusion in her eyes. The sphere's convulsions seemed to be calming down now, as well as the earthquake. The throbbing red veins were still there, though. For a moment the sphere seemed to beating like a heart. Then the black melted off of it like paint. The veins started to melt off of it too, and torrents of blood poured from the now rapidly decaying sphere.

"Disgusting…" Maya whispered, slapping a hand over her mouth to hold in her lunch. The sphere and its blood and organs-or whatever they were- spilled out into a pool of liquid and flesh.

"Onii-san!" Rei's eyes widened as she saw Unit-02. It stood amongst the pile of organs, it's four eyes shining a bright white. It took a step forward, it's normally red body bleached even further by blood. It stepped through the mushy carpet of Angel and stopped a short distance away from Unit-00 before collapsing. "Onii-san! Hold on!" she moved forward and caught Unit-02 before it hit the ground completely.

"Unit-02 is safe! Vitals of the pilot confirmed. Other than being unconscious, he's completely fine!" Aoba flashed a thumbs up and a smile. Misato breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god… " Maya breathed, still refusing to look at the melted Angel that was smeared all over half of the west district.

"Let's get him back to base and to the medical wing, now! C'mon, get moving!" Misato was curious as to what the hell just happened just like everyone else, but for the moment, that didn't matter.

--

"Huh? Where am I?" Asuka looked around the room. She was breathing hard, having just woken up from a nightmare. "I was on that space station… I couldn't help… I was… I was, wasn't I…?" she rubbed her eyes. Was everything really back to normal? She coughed. She was sick. That's right. She had been staying home from school for a few days. She heard some footsteps in the hall. The door slid open and Shinji stepped through, a smile on his face and a tray in his hand. He set it down next to her. She looked down at it and saw some delicious looking soup and some juice.

"There you go! Some more of the soup you like" he smiled and sat down next to her.

"Shinji… you don't have to stay home for me like this… We shouldn't both be missing school" she watched as Shinji moved over and sat on her bed. He pulled her against him and held her close. She blushed terribly as he did this, not expecting him to do it so quick.

"I don't care about school, Asuka. All I care about is you…"he moved his hand down and slid her shirt up slightly. He rubbed her stomach as he continued to speak "…and the baby"

--

"Gah!" Asuka sat up quickly, looking around her. Her skin was hot and she could tell her face was still red. She had her hands cupped over her mouth as she panted from overexcitement. She looked around the room again, this time seeing the same boring steel features of the station. She sighed, but whether it was in relief or disappointment, she herself couldn't tell. She shook her head slightly. "Why am I having dreams like that…?"

She rubbed her head. "Must've dosed off earlier…" she tried to make sense of the situation. She noticed that the dread feeling that she was feeling earlier was gone now. She looked down at Earth, smiling softly.

"Good job, Shinji…"

--

Shinji's eyes opened slowly. He almost immediately closed them. The glint of light off of the white walls practically blinded him. "Ugh… what happened? Where am I?" he moved around a bit, feeling a bunched up section of the blanket. "Hmm? This blanket is pretty warm… and soft" he squeezed the blanket a couple times, moving his hand around.

"Ahhn…"

"Eh?!" Shinji was awake now, the small sound of a moan coming from the blanket. He realized now he was in the hospital room he been in several times before. He looked down at the blanket and saw the bunched up section. He pulled the covers down to find Rei cuddling up against him, her head on his chest and her arms around him. He moved his hand as soon as he realized what he had squeezed was one of her breasts. "R-Rei? What is she doing-" Shinji stopped mid sentence when he noticed she was still wearing her plugsuit.

"Mmm… Onii-san…" she moved up, setting her head in the nape of his neck and pulling his arm against her chest.

"R-Rei…. Don't do that… The suit is thin and cold… I can feel 'them' poking against my arm" Shinji muttered as he looked away from Rei with his eyes closed. "Ahh… not again…. It's coming out…" he sighed as he once again held his nose.

"Ehh?! Onii-san! Your nose is bleeding again!"

"R-Rei?! Didn't I tell you not to move like that?!"

--

"Well it seems you were correct" Fuyutsuki rubbed his hand as he spoke.

"What do you mean?" Gendo was relaxed back into his soft leather swivel chair.

Fuyutsuki was a bit unnerved at the new decoration in the office. A single small plant stood at the edge of his desk. Sure it wasn't much, but if you knew Gendo as much as he did, you'd shat bricks at the small change as well.

"Your son. He defeated the Angel successfully and was unharmed upon his retrieval"

"You know… I don't like to say I told you so, but…"

"But…?"

Gendo smirked and cracked his knuckles "I told you so"


	5. Odneg

Chapter five is here O.o

And once again with the injuries -.-

I was driving my friends home the other night after we had all gone somewhere, and some dude came out of nowhere and hit the drivers side. Of course, it was only my part, so that's good. None of my friends got hurt, and I could get some good cash from this 3 XD

But really, I'm just glad that they were all okay. That and my arm is only in a sling. It's not broken or anything. Just sprained. I can still type, so it's all good.

Anyway, here's chapter five XP

Music: "Vampire Spanker"Danneman(Remix of the classic Castlevania theme 'Vampire Killer'. Give it a listen. Tis beautiful), "The Kill" 30 Seconds to Mars, "Drops of Jupiter" Train, "Scotty doesn't know" Lustra, and "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" Bach

If you're wondering, I plan to have Rei as a completely sociable and normal, healthy young woman by the time this is over

1: Castlevania kicks ass. You know it's true ;D Even the chapter name is a refference to the series. If you don't understand, look up Alucard

"You get five minutes, then Onii-san is _mine_ again" Rei stood up and left the small hospital room. Misato smiled as she did. Ever since Shinji came around, the girl was slowly acting more and more alive.

"Alright alright, Rei" she nodded and turned back to Shinji. He was smiling as well. As soon as the door shut, though, his smile faded somewhat.

"Well, welcome back Shin-"

"You guys want to know how I got out" he stated bluntly. He scratched the back of his head as he looked at Misato.

"W-Well yeah. It was strange. We just need to know how you did it"

"Well It's kinda hard for me to tell you when I don't know myself"

"What do you mean?" Misato was confused. Unit-02 didn't go berserk, so he had to have been controlling it. Right?

"I mean I don't know what happened. I was awake one minute, in a sea of white nothingness, and the next I woke up here" he leaned back in the bed. He decided to leave out the part about Kyoko and the secret she told him about Evangelion.

"Well… maybe you'll remember eventually. I'm sorry to bother you like this when you've just woken up"

"It's fine. I'm just glad I get to see you again" he smiled again now, his serious mood gone.

"Your five minutes is up. I'm coming Onii-san!"

--

"Oh, so you're back?" Kaji didn't turn away from the screen as he heard the door open. His fingers continued to tap at the keys as he heard a sigh and Misato plopped down next to him in her chair. She brought her computer out of standby and pulled the keyboard out.

"Kaji?"

"Yeah?"

"Have I not been a good parent?"

"What do you mean? Here" he passed her a cup of coffee. Luckily for them, he had managed to get a coffee machine installed right next door.

"Thanks. I mean with Shinji. Have I been a good enough parent?"

"I think so. Shinji respects you. He doesn't think of you as a mother, though. He thinks of you as a big sister. I think you've done a great job so far"

"You think so…?" she leaned back in her chair and sighed as she sipped her coffee. She set the mug down and started typing once again. Those leads weren't going to find themselves.

--

Shinji watched Rei as she hummed something. She was acting really different. What was it? Was it what happened during the Angel attack? Was that why she had the drastic personality change? He didn't know, but he preferred her like this. She no longer acted like a doll.

"It's almost done, Onii-san" she turned around and smiled softly. She had brought in a hot plate, a small pot, and some groceries that she threw together to make him soup again.

"Thanks Rei" he looked up at the ceiling. What had happened back there? All he could remember was that cold, dread feeling as he was pulled into the darkness. And that voice…

"…_**ther… Father…"**_

Was it his? He couldn't tell. It was all distorted, but then again, he was under a mental attack by an Angel. Thoughts like those about his father did slip out. And none to flattering, mind you.

Rei took the pot off of the hotplate and covered it with a glass lid.

"It has to sit for a couple minutes" she told him as she waked over and sat on his bed.

"Alright. Thanks for going through the trouble, Rei"

"No problem Onii-san!" she spun around and practically jumped on him. She grinned as she cuddled against him.

"Rei! Wow… what's up with you?" he shook his head and sighed. He moved his hand down and patted her head. It felt nice to be held right now. He relaxed a bit more. He just wanted them to approve his request for release so he could get out of here.

"Surprise!" the door hissed open and some confetti streamers shot out with a little _pop_. Shinji looked up to see his friends from school.

"Oh… Is this a bad time?" Kensuke joked, pushing his glasses up. He smirked as he saw Rei clinging on to Shinji.

"Shinji, man! I thought you were going for Asuka" Touji was next, laughing loudly and pointing.

They were both silenced by two swift smacks to the backs of their heads.

"Shush. Ikari! What are you doing? Why aren't you with Asuka? And for that matter where is she?" Hikari stood in the doorway behind the two. They rubbed their heads and moved aside, letting the diminutive, yet sincerely scary girl through.

"Leave Onii-san alone! He needs to rest after the last battle. Oh! The soup!" Rei jumped up and ran over to the counter where she had left everything. She fished through the bag she brought everything in and pulled out a bowl and a spoon.

"Onii-san?" the three of them said at the same time.

"Oh god…" Shinji sighed. He wasn't going to hear the end of this one.

"So you like little sisters, eh?" Kensuke grinned and turned away from him.

"Stay away from mine, man" Touji had to keep from laughing.

"I-I-I" Hikari stuttered for a second, then got silent. Everyone, except for Rei, stared at her. What was she trying to say?

"INDECENT!! Shinji, you perverted jerk!" Hikari pulled her hand back and it sung through the air before resting on his face. Kensuke and Touji winced as the loud slap echoed through the room.

"Onii-san! I'm coming!" Rei jumped to his side, now wearing the apron from Misato's apartment.

"Gah! Wait! I-" Shinji looked from Rei to his friends, then back to Rei, then back again. "I-I-I… Shit!"

"PERVERT!!"

--

Asuka sighed and looked at herself in the window. Her faint reflection looked like it was standing out in space, it's hand connected to hers on the glass where it rested.

"I guess it's kinda nice…" she grumbled, looking down now at the sundress. It was comfortable, and he was right, it did look nice. She shook her head and walked over to the small couch she had been laying on before. She yawned and laid back, trying to get comfortable. "Good night, Shinji…" she giggled, suddenly happy for some reason, and closed her eyes. As if to respond to her actions the lights in the room shut off.

She was silent and unmoving, but a small sigh could be heard.

"I hope I don't have another dream like _that_…"

--

Shinji sighed while Rei nursed his red cheek with a cold rag.

"Oh! Well why didn't you just say that sooner?" Hikari laughed and sat down in a chair. Shinji wasn't up to talking yet, and Kensuke and Touji were still cowering towards the back of the room.

"N-Not human…" Touji shuddered and shook his head.

"Hey, _you're_ the one who likes her… I don't see how though"

"Kensuke!"

"Ah! Y-yes ma'am!"

"Do me a favor and keep your mouth shut" Hikari smiled. Kensuke locked his lips and nodded. He looked over at Touji, as if saying "Man, do I feel sorry for you…"

"Yeah, I know…"

Hikari helped Rei get Shinji's soup. She set down the small bag she had been holding.

"Here. I brought you this. Not much, but I thought I'd bring you something at least" she smiled and handed Rei the tray she asked for.

"Thanks"

"Onii-san, the soup is ready!" Rei walked over with the tray, setting it in his lap. He took the plastic spoon that she had snagged from the NERV mess hall. He dipped the spoon in the soup and brought it up to his lips. "It's delicious"

"He he" Rei grinned and sat down in one of the chairs in the room, while Hikari took the other.

"So, you still haven't told us where Asuka is. She wasn't in school. Is she not feeling well?" Hikari asked about her friend yet again. Shinji tensed when she asked. He wasn't sure what to tell them. He finally decided on the truth. They deserved that much from him.

"Well, she's… She was kidnapped the other night. We're still looking for her…" he set the spoon down and put his hand in his lap.

"Kidnapped? What do you mean?" Hikari leaned forward in her seat. Even Kensuke and Touji were interested. They moved from their respective corners and sat on the ground near the bed.

"Yeah. The other night, after the party… Someone snagged her. I'm not sure when and I'm not sure how. Then again, we didn't know everyone there. There were some people from NERV that Misato and the others invited. The party was pretty long, remember?" he sighed "Man… I should have been next to her… I should have been there!" he clenched his fists. The other winced slightly at the loud cracking sound that ensued.

"There wasn't much you could do, Shinji"

"I could have done something…"

"If he was going to kidnap her, he was prepared"

"I could have bought some time…"

"He was probably older and stronger than you"

"I could have done something… Anything! I could have at least… at least…"

The others watched Shinji as he leaned on his hands and covered his face.

"Onii-san…?" Rei reached over and set her hand on the side of his face, stroking his cheek slightly. "You made a mistake. Everyone does. You just have to fix it by saving Pilot Soryu" she nodded. Everyone looked at Rei, astonished. She never acted like this. She was really changing these days.

"Rei… Rei, thank you…" Shinji sat back up and took a deep breath. He picked his spoon back up and dipped it back into his soup. "I will save her. I'll fix it" he surprised himself a bit at how determined he sounded.

"That's right. You will. And we'll be here for you. Right, guys?" Hikari smiled, setting her hand on his shoulder and looking at the other two.

"Of course!" Kensuke gave a thumbs up as he stood.

"Damn straight!" Touji punched his palm as he stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Anyone gives you any trouble and I'll kick their ass!"

"Alright" Shinji smiled and nodded. He felt a lot better now. He felt glad to have such good friends.

"Well… I can't really do much. I can cook!" Hikari nodded and stretched.

"And if you need any information, just ask me" Kensuke pushed his glasses up again and scratched the back of his head.

"Shinji Ikari?" the door opened once again. His doctor walked in with a clipboard "You're free to go"

"Thank you, doctor" Shinji bowed as much as he could with out spilling his soup. He picked up the bowl and quickly drained the warm broth. "Uhh…. Could you guys leave real quick?"

"Why?" Kensuke looked confused. It seemed the feeling was mutual in the room.

"Because Onii-san isn't wearing anything under the blanket!" Rei announced, standing up and smiling. She looked like she was proud of knowing what he was worried about.

"R-Rei?!"

"Ikari…" Hikari sounded scary "… how does she know that…?"

"I don't know! I really don't! Why does this all keep happening to me?! I'm just here for rest!"

"Doctor" Kensuke and Touji walked over to the elderly man "He might have to stay in this room for a bit longer after all…"

"IKARI!!" Hikari had Shinji by the neck and was shaking him back and forth "HOW COULD YOU?! SO INDECENT!!"

"Help me!"

--

"… And you have no idea as to what happened?"

"I do not" Gendo was leaning on his elbows, his hands in front of his face, sitting in his 'signature pose' as the people in NERV called it.

"The pilot was the Third Child, correct?"

"Correct" Gendo sighed. Speaking with the Old Men was annoying.

"To think that he could sync so well with _that_ Unit… He warrants some further investigation. Figure out what happened during this incident. Failure will not be tolerated"

"Understood" the holograms vanished, and the room was pitch black once again."… so uptight…"

--1

Shinji ran, barging down the door and stopping.

"Heh" he heard an amused laugh as he looked up. There he was. Gendo sat at his desk, one leg crossed, and a glass goblet of wine in his hand.

"Die monster! You don't belong in this world!" Shinji stabbed a finger at him, the other hand holding his sword.

"It was not by my hand that I was once again given flesh. I was called here by humans who wished to pay _me_ tribute" Gendo smirked and looked down at him.

"Tribute!? You steal men's souls, and make them your slaves!" Shinji tightened the grip on his sword and gritted his teeth.

"Perhaps the same could be said of all religions…"

"Your words are as empty as your soul! Mankind ill needs a savior such as you!"

"What is a man?!" Gendo sat up and threw his goblet to the ground. They both watched it shatter as he continued with his speech "A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk! Have at you!"

"_Shinji…? Hello? Shinji?"_

"Huh?"

"Shinji!"

--

"What?!" Shinji jumped. He looked around. Everyone was staring at him. "Sorry. I kinda spaced out"

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious. I asked if you wanted to come with us. We were all planning to go to a movie after we visited you. You know, see if you could come along or not. Either way, we're cool" Kensuke cleaned his glasses off and replaced them.

"I… No thanks. I think I'm going to head home. I have some things I need to think about… Thanks for the offer. I'll see you guys tomorrow at school" he smiled and waved. It looked kind of forced. He walked the opposite direction quickly.

"I must go" Rei bowed her head slightly, then took off after Shinji.

When they were out of sight, Hikari sighed.

"I'm kinda worried about him… He's beating himself up about this way too much. He plays it off like nothing, but you can tell he's really hurting on the inside" she shook her head.

"Yeah… He does that. Let's just give him some time to think" Touji stretched and started walking with the other two.

"He'll open up eventually…" Kensuke spoke quietly. Almost as if he wasn't sure.

--

"Where am I?" Shinji looked around himself. It was dark. The only thing he could see was a small section of metal floor under him and a guard rail.

"Chance…" he spun around. The voice echoed.

"What is this?"

"Anta baka?"

"Who is that?!"

"Do you want kiss?"

"Come out! Show yourself!"

"Kiss. Do you want to kiss?"

"Show yourself! COME OUT YOU COWARD!"

"_**t-t-t-t-t-t-ther……Faaaaather…. Fatheeeeeeeeerrrrr…. FATHER!"**_

--

"Guh!" Shinji sat up. His eyes were wide and it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He clutched his chest as he gasped for breath. His head was pounding and his vision was blurry. He slapped his hands over his mouth as his stomach churned violently. He keeled over and threw up in a small trash can.

"Room…? My… room?" Shinji looked around again. At first everything was dark and blurry. But now he could see the faint outline of his things. His desk, his blinking alarm clock, and his various things strewn on the ground were all apparent now. The faint light that gave his room a bit of light came from the floor. The hallway light was on.

"That's right… I came home with Rei and fell asleep… I was dreaming…." He sighed and fell back against his bed. His stomach still felt like it was on fire, but it was slowly calming down.

"Onii-san! Are you okay?" the door flew open and bright light poured into his room. He shielded his eyes.

"Rei… Shut the door. It's bright"

"Sorry!" she stepped into his room and shut the door. She slowly made her way to his bed. "Onii-san… did you throw up?" she could tell from the smell.

"Yeah… in the trash can. It must have been something I ate…"

"Ah! Onii-san…" Rei sounded hurt.

"What? I-oh…" he realized what he had said. The only thing he had eaten so far was Rei's soup. "I didn't mean it was your soup, Rei" he tried to explain.

"Ahhhh! Onii-san is a jerk!" she looked away from him. Shinji stood up and moved next to her.

"I'm sorry. I've just been feeling dizzy ever since I woke up in the hospital. I really liked your soup, Rei"

"You really mean it?" he could hear a small sniffle.

_Great… I made her cry…_ he sighed.

"Yeah. It was great, Rei. I guess my stomach just wasn't ready for any food at the time"

"Okay! Onii-san?"

"Yeah?"

"You were having a bad dream, weren't you?"

"Hmm? How did you know?" he felt her lean on him.

"I could hear you…"

"Eh? You were listening to me sleep?"

"Yeah… I was sitting in here, but when you started talking in your sleep, I scrambled out into the hallway" she turned herself over and set her head on his shoulder. He patted her on the head softly.

"Really? Wait… I was talking?"

"Yes"

"What was I saying?"

"I didn't understand what it meant, but you kept saying 'reese' and other things..."

"What do you mean by other things??"

"No… I couldn't understand the rest of what you were saying. It sounded like it was in a different language. And the way you were saying it… scared me…" she admitted.

Shinji blushed a bit as she buried her head in his chest. He stroked her head and sighed. She was acting less and less like the stoic, nonchalant Rei that he had met when he first came here, and acting more and more like a normal little sister would. Of course, she was acting a lot younger than she should be, and they weren't related, but, it was still nice that she acted more… well, human.

"Sorry. I didn't know I spoke in my sleep…"

"You usually don't. And there was one more thing you kept repeating…"

"Oh? What was it?"

"You kept saying 'Father'. Over and over again. It was what you said the loudest… 'Father… Father… Father!'" she leaned on him more.

Shinji was confused. His dreams… inside the Angel… Why was that one simple word bothering him so much? He shook his head. Best not to think about it for now. Bad memories wer ebest left in the past.

"So what are you going to do now, Rei? Rei?" he heard her soft snoring. He shrugged. He picked her up and laid her back on the bed. He laid next to her and threw the blanket over them. He suddenly felt exhausted. And since Rei was here, if he started to speak in his sleep again, he could as her about it. He felt her cuddle up against him and put her arms on his chest. While he did like Asuka, he felt an obligation to take care of Rei.

"Brotherly love…? I dunno…" he sighed and closed his eyes. Sleep soon followed.

--

_Bzzz…._

"Mmmm…."

_BZZZ…._

"Hmmm?"

BZZZZZ

"Ah!"

Shinji threw the covers off of himself and sat up. He reached over and picked up his cell phone.

"Hello?" he could tell he sounded tired.

"Shin-chan!" Misato's cheery voice came from the other side. He could hear Rei groaning in her sleep next to him.

"Hey, Misato. What is it? Do you need us on base?"

"No, not right now. I have some good news!"

"You found something? We have a lead?" he sat up straighter.

"Not that good, unfortunately…" Misato sighed. He knew she was trying her best, but he couldn't help it. He had gotten his hopes up.

"That's fine… We'll find something eventually. What is it?"

"Ah! Guess what? You and Rei are going to get some help!"

"What do you mean?"

"The Fourth and Fifth have been found"

"What? You mean… More pilots?"

"Exactly! We got the report about an hour ago. Units 03 and 04 are on their way to Japan as we speak"

"So when are the new pilots going to get here? Are we going to go greet them?"

"That's the best part! They're already here" Misato sounded cheery.

"Really? That was fast…"

"They were here the entire time, Shinji" now she sounded a bit more concerned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… the next two pilots are both male, and…"

"…And?" Shinji could tell where this was going. And if he was right…

"… the Fourth is Touji Suzuhara, and the fifth is-"

"Kensuke… Aida Kensuke"

--

"Ah! What a nice morning it is!" Kensuke stretched and put his shirt on. Something about today felt special. He speared his omelet on his fork and ate it in one bite. "Mmm…"

He finished chewing and swallowing it as he grabbed his school bag and his keys. He saw his dad's note on the refrigerator.

"_Ken_

_I won't be home for a couple days. Take care of yourself._

_-Dad"_

He sighed. "Ah well… guess he can't be around all the time, right?" the door shut behind him as he jogged towards the elevator. As opposed to the way he usually felt after waking up, he was full of energy. He hummed as the elevator moved down to the ground floor.

"I have a feeling today is going to be great…"

--

"Aw dammit…" Touji sighed heavily, rolling over and slamming his hand down on his alarm. He threw his blanket off and stood up, scratching his head. He moved through his messy room quickly and grabbed a new shirt and some boxers. His track suit was clean and pressed, like always. He put it on quickly. "Don't even have enough time today for a damn shower… Ah well. At least I got to last night" he made sure his jacket was on correctly and went into the bathroom.

He picked his toothbrush up off of the floor, rinsed it, and began brushing his teeth. When he was done, he looked a the clock. "Shit! Already?!" he grabbed his bag and made a break for the door, locking it after he made sure he had everything. He ran for the stairs. "No time for the elevator… gotta get to school on time or Hikari will scold me…"

--

Shini sighed. His uniform was clean and ready, as was his stuff. He waited next to the door for Rei. She had began undressing in his room, which forced him to make a break for the hallway.

"Seriously… I'm losing more blood through my nose to that girl than I am through all of my injuries in the Eva…" he shook his head. Thinking about the Eva made him remember the conversation he had with Misato about an hour earlier. "The Fourth… and the Fifth…"

"I'm ready, Onii-san" Rei stepped out, her school skirt on and bag at her side.

"Alright, let's go"

--

"Where are they…? They were supposed to be here ten minutes early today…" Hikari seethed, tapping her foot. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes were fixed on her watch. "One minute left… They're not gonna-"

"Phew! I can't… believe… I made it…" she heard a voice in the hallway. She looked out and saw Touji, leaning over with his hands on his knees. He was panting and laughing. "That's a new record!"

"Suzuhara"

"Ah! Yes, Class Rep?"

"You woke up late again, didn't you?"

"Urk!"

"And you had to run to school?"

"Well, I…"

"Next time, set your alarm earlier. And get some actual sleep!"

"Ah! Class Rep, wait!" he followed her and tried to explain.

"Whoo! Today feels good!" Kensuke came in and sat down on one of the desks.

"Kensuke, at least you look nice this morning"

"Thank you, Class Rep" he smiled.

"Unfortunately, you're late!"

"Sorry!"

"What's all the commotion?" Shinji came in with Rei tagging along behind him.

"And you Ikari…. You're the latest!" she stabbed a finger at him.

"Huh? Oh right… we were supposed to get here early, weren't we?" he sighed and remembered. They came in early every Monday to hang out before class. He turned to Touji "Not sure how you're going to feel about it…" he turned to Kensuke next "But to you, congratulations" he smiled and patted Kensuke on the shoulder.

"Shinji, what are you talking about?" they both looked confused as hell.

"Oh, you'll see… just wait until about lunch time"

--

"Well darling, I'm going to have to leave you for a bit. Take care of the place while I'm gone, okay honey?" he joked around and laughed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Asuka spat back at him. She was back to despising his guts.

"I'm headed planetside for a little… conference I guess you could say. I'll be back in a couple hours. In the meantime, you behave yourself, alright…?" he chuckled again.

"What? Hey, wait! I-" the was a dull _thump!_ And the entire station shook. Asuka screamed as she fell back on her ass. The lights went out for a second, then randomly began flashing on and off. The shaking came to a gradual stop, and the lights turned back off. She head a faint whirring and a click and the lights were back on. She ran over to the window and looked around. There was no trace of a rocket or a ship, or anything, really.

"What was that?" she sat back. This was all too much. She sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. She put her head in her lap, closed her eyes, and tried not to think too much about the situation. As much as she hated it, it seemed really empty without his constant teasing. It scared her a little, and she was disgusted by it. "Damn it..."

--

"Touji Suzuhara, Aida Kensuke, and Shinji Ikari, please come to the principal's office immediately" the principal's voice boomed through the PA system. Everyone stopped talking for once and turned to look at them.

"C'mon… let's get out of here before Hikari really gives it to us" Kensuke pushed the other two along and slid the door shut.

"So what is this all about, Shinji? You knew about it this morning. Are we in trouble?"

"Not exactly" he chuckled. He felt glad for them. He was cautious about his friends being pilots, seeing as how his time as a pilot hadn't exactly been the greatest. When he thought about it, though, it was good for both of them. NERV had great medical facilities, so Touji's sister could be taken care of, and Kensuke desperately wanted to be a pilot, so he would be happy. Plus, it gave him a chance to see his father more often.

Shinji pushed the door open and let them step through first. He followed them. He smiled and waved at Misato, who was sitting towards the back of the office. She waved back, but was interrupted by Ritsuko, who cleared her throat.

"You are Touji Suzuhara and Aida Kensuke, correct?" she asked, holding two packets of papers.

"Yes ma'am" they both answered at the same time. Shinji stood against the wall as Ritsuko spoke with the two.

"You have been selected as candidates for the next pilots, the Fourth and Fifth Children" she handed them both papers. Touji looked confused and lost. Kensuke, on the other hand, looked like he had died and gone to heaven.

"Are you serious…?" Touji stared at the paper.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Kensuke stared at the papers before kissing them and cheering. He threw his hands up towards the sky, "I knew there was a god up there!"

"Ah, yes… ahem. If you would like to take the positions, please sign here" she pointed out a line on both of their papers. "We understand that this is a tough decision, so we'll give you some time to-"

"Here you go!" Kensuke handed her back the papers. He had hurriedly signed all of them.

"Ah… well don't you think you should take some time to think abou-" Kensuke shook his head. Shinji laughed behind him.

"Trust me. He wants to do this. He'll have no regrets" Ritsuko nodded at what Shinji said.

"And Mr. Suzuhara. How about you?" she looked at Touji. He was still staring blankly at the forms.

"I… I…" he looked to Kensuke, who gave him a thumbs up, and then to Shinji.

"They can take care of your sister better than any of the city hospitals" that was all he said.

"I'll do it. But like he said, you have to move my little sister to the hospital down there, and make sure she gets the best medical attention you can provide" he spoke slowly. He took the pen that Kensuke offered him and signed the paper. He hesitated on the last letter of his last name.

"Vey well. She'll get better soon" Ritsuko nodded and took the paper from him when he finished.

"Okay, gentlemen. The Unit's should be here after school. Please accompany Shinji to the base and we'll get you fitted for suits and put you in the simulator" Misato chose then to speak up. "And we really appreciate this. You're doing us-no, the world- a big favor"

--

"I can't believe it! I'm going to be a pilot! YES!" Kensuke jumped up and accidentally threw his lunch "Ah! Crap!" he ran after it and tried to catch it.

"Wow… This is strange…" Touji muttered, scratching the back of his head. "Shinji…?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about back then… when I punched you. I haven't even seen the thing yet and I'm already feeling queasy" Touji admitted. He sat down and leaned back against the bars. The rooftop was always empty at lunch.

"That's fine. I understand why you did it back then. You were mad. I was the reason your little sister got hurt. And don't worry" Kensuke came back, holding his lunch.

"Thank god… I barely caught it before it fell off the building…"

"I'm gonna train you guys. You know, make sure you guys don't make the same mistakes I did when I first started out. And there's also Rei" he pointed out. As soon as he said her name, the door to the rooftop opened, and she walked out.

"Onii-san! I found you" she ran over to him and held out a bag "I made lunch for you because I knew you were broke" she smiled.

"Ah… that's…" he rubbed the back of his head and looked away from her. He took the bag and sighed. "You don't have to say that out loud..."

"You three have just been hanging out up here while me and Rei looked all over for you?" Hikari glared at them. Shinji was taking out his lunch, Touji looked depressed, and Kensuke was to busy dancing to pay attention. "Geez, you guys are usually weird, but there's something different today… What happened? Oh! And what did you guys do this time?! How come the principal called you to his office?"

"That's because we were sel-" Kensuke started explaining, but Touji jumped up.

"We were caught peeking in the girls locker room during gym on Friday" Touji interrupted. Shinji and Kensuke looked at him and he looked back. Shinji nodded. He understood. He wanted to keep it a secret from Hikari for now, because he didn't want her to worry. Kensuke shrugged. He opened his lunch and sat down.

"Y-Y-You WHAT?!" Hikari shrieked.

"Oh, Onii-san… were you trying to see me naked again…?" Rei teased, poking Shinji in the cheek while he was drinking his soda. He coughed and spat all of his soda out.

"What?!"

"Ikari… what does she mean by 'again'…?"

"I don't know! I…. Damnit Rei! You're going to be the death of me!" Shinji jumped up and attempted to run before Hikari pounced, but it was too late.

"Get over here!" she dragged him away from the other three. They looked at Shinji with pity, then averted their eyes and busied themselves with their lunches.

"Yes…?"

"Shinji! If Asuka was here, she would be seriously hurt!" Hikari scolded him.

"I know, I know! You don't understand, though!"

"I understand perfectly well!" they whispered loudly, making sure the others didn't hear them. "You want more than one woman!"

"That's not it at all! You don't understand me! So don't try!"

"I'm _trying_ to defend my friend who isn't here at the moment! I'm _trying_ to make sense of why she would think highly of a guy who, at her first sign of absence, goes for another woman!"

"You don't understand! I… Asuka has a place in my heart, but Rei… She's like a sister to me. And… She reminds me of my mother…"

"Shinji…"

"That's why! I feel I have an obligation to take care of her. So if you want to keep making assumptions, you can take your bullshit and shove it right up your-"

"No, that's fine… I understand now. I'm sorry I said those things. I got caught up in the heat of the moment and got carried away" she bowed her head slightly.

Shinji stopped and thought for a second. He had said some pretty bad things too.

"Yeah, me too… I'm sorry" he sighed. School seemed like an obligation more than a necessity these days. "Hikari?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me you won't freak out about it"

"About what?"

"I can't say right now, but you'll understand in the future..."

--

"Damn this place is cold! And what's up with these suits anyway? I feel like I'm buttass naked!" Touji complained. Shinji sighed and shook his head.

"Whoever designed these suits must have been a pervert or something!"Kensuke had been whining almost as much as Touji had.

_Elsewhere…_

"Ha choo!" Ritsuko wiped her hose with a handkerchief.

"Are you okay, sempai?" Mana looked away from her keyboard.

"Yes. It just suddenly felt like someone was talking about me…"

"We're here, ma'am!" Shinji stopped in the command center. Touji and Kensuke edged into the room, grumbling about the plugsuits and trying to cover themselves.

"We're almost ready for you, Shinji. You'll be supervising them while they train in the simulator" Maya leaned over to look at them from behind Ritsuko.

"Who… is that…?" Kensuke stared at her as she moved back. He continued staring at the place where she had been, not even stopping to blink.

"Who, Maya? She's one of the technicians that helps us while we're in the field" Shinji turned back and looked at his gawking friend.

"She's… beautiful…"

"Excuse me, gentlemen. Please proceed to the cages and await further instructions" Ritsuko coughed to get their attention.

"Yes ma'am!" Kensuke said this a bit too loudly as he stiffened up and stood at attention. He heard Maya giggle softly. "Like an angel…"

"C'mon, loverboy! Let's go" Touji reached over and grabbed Kensuke around the neck. He had to drag him away from the command center to follow Shinji.

"I'll be back soon, my angel!"

--

"How come ours match with our suits, but yours doesn't?" Kensuke scratched his head. He stood in front of his Unit-04. His white plugsuit matched the gallant white knight that stood in front of him. He grinned. His very own Eva… "And it looks different than Unit-01, too" he looked at it. Unit-04 was mostly white, with black and silver mixed in over the joints and such. It's head had the same basic shape as the other Eva's, but it was designed to look more like a helmet a knight would have worn, and it seemed slimmer.

"Hey, I think it looks cool" Touji chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. His black plugsuit matched his own Unit-03. He looked at it as it stared down at him, unmoving. It's eyes were empty and dark right now, but he imagined that when he was in it, they would glow a bright white. The paint looked really dark, maybe midnight black, and it looked bulkier than the other Eva's.

"Okay, gentlemen. Let me run you through the specifications of your respective Eva's. Mr. Suzuhara, Unit-03 was designed to be bigger and bulkier. That was to allow it to have more strength in hand to hand combat, to be able to take the recoil from some of the Eva weaponry better than other units, and to be ble to take more punishment in a combat situation" she took a breath, and the comm went blank for a second.

"Mr. Kensuke?" Maya's voice came through the comms now.

"Ah! Miss Maya? Please, just call me Aida, ma'am!"

"Okay" her giggle echoed throughout the room "I'll explain the specifics of Unit-04. Unit-04 was designed to be slimmer and a bit smaller than the other Eva units. That particular design was to allow it more agility and quicker responses in the field. Now, if you'll step up, we can get you into the Eva's and activate them"

"Yes, ma'am!"

--

The sound footsteps echoed through the entire. A smile split on his face as he sat back in his chair. He kicked his legs up and sighed. They had taken a while to get here… Of course, like always, they were shrouded in darkness, and the only light in the room was shining on him.

"Down to business" a gruff voice came out of the darkness.

"What, no 'Sorry for being late'?" he laughed and leaned his head back.

"Listen, boy…" a high pitched spoke next. He sounded angry.

"Enough" the gruff voice cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah… What did you need me here for, anyway, old man?"

"I trust things are going well up on the Top of the World?" the gruff voice spoke again. All the others in the room were quite.

"Oh, yeah. You betcha" the boy laughed again. These meetings were always a social event, weren't they?

"Is the Second Child broken yet?"

"Not quite yet, but if you leave her up there with me for a bit longer, I'm sure I'll drive her nuts" he grinned

"Our timetable is limited. Speed it up. Use 'that' if you have to, do you understand?" the gruff voice didn't sound angry, just annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah. I understand. Anything else you need from me before I go?" he sighed. He didn't want to go back up there just yet. He wanted to go around a bit, check out how Japan had changed in his time away. Not to mention try to pick up some girls. Let's just face it, being an errand boy up in space doesn't leave a lot of room for a social life.

"No. Dismissed. Oh, and Ren?"

"Yes?"

"Don't get any ideas while you're here"

"Oh? It looks like I've been found out" he laughed as he stood up. He spun the wooden chair on one leg like a top as he stood up and left. It gradually slowed down until it stopped exactly where it had started.

"That kid is a handful…"


	6. Sweet Home

Chapter six XP

Sorry about the length x.x

I know it's nowhere near as long as they usually are, but I've been busy with school and everything. I feel exhausted right now T.T

I'm in the middle of composing a piece of music for my digital media class, but once that is taken care of, as well as a couple tests, then I should be able to get backa t it completely! D

Music: "Metal Gear Solid 2 Theme" -- that's about all XD

Hope you enjoy it, and once again, I'll get back to it once I take care of stuff

"What the hell?! How does this thing work?" Kensuke screamed as the large gun threw him across the test chamber. He landed in a heap at the end of the room. Shinji sighed. They were getting the hang of it, but they still messed up.

"Mr. Suzuhara! You have to control your thoughts. You're overcompensating for you lack of skill with erratic thoughts" Ritsuko was coaching him as Shinji and Rei moved over to pick Kensuke and Unit-04 up.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Touji caught his balance and waited a couple seconds. Kensuke sighed through the comms and walked over to Touji.

"Harder than it looks, eh?" Shinji chuckled.

"Whatever, man!" Touji scoffed. He scratched his head and took the controls back into his hand. He took the simulated Particle Beam Weapon E-003 from Kensuke. It had a handle that nestled under the Eva's arm and against it's ribs, and a long barrel. The barrel collected negative positron particles and fused them with the energy output device in the weapons core. The result was an explosively destructive beam that had quite a kick to it. "This thing is scary…"

"Onii-san… Something is coming…" Rei muttered. She held her stomach and closed her eyes. She suddenly felt so uneasy.

"Huh? What did you say Rei? I couldn't-" he stopped midsentence. His head started aching, and his stomach churned "Ugh… I don't feel so good…"

"Onii-san… it's here"

--

"Hooo! This place sure is creepy…" a technician took a bite from his sandwich. Maintenance was scheduled while the Eva's were in the simulator. Only the lone Unit-02 stood there, staring down at them with it's four dull green eyes.

"Yeah… take a look at ol' four eyes over there, eh?" his partner said, laughing and sipping his drink. They coughed up what was in their mouths when the ground started to shake.

"_Hahhhh….."_a deep, raged breath filled the room.

"What the fuck was that?! Don't mess around like that, man!"

"How could I make the ground shake like that?! Think before you speak!"

"_Hahhh…"_ another raged breath. This one was stronger. The sound of bending and breaking could be heard. Twisting metal and chunks of machinery hit the ceiling as Unit-02's eyes flashed white, then started to glow a dull red. It laid its hand down on the locks, pulling itself out.

"_You_ should think before you speak! You pissed it of!"

"As if! Let's just get the hell out of here!"

--

"Alright, Shinji. Let's run them through the hand to hand combat simulation" Ritsuko cleaned her glasses before placing them back on her face.

"Yes ma'am. Alright, you heard her. Let's get started with the hand to hand comba-"

"Wait!" the door to the control room hissed open and Aoba stood in the doorway panting. He had spilled coffee all over his shirt and pants and he looked terrified.

"What is it?" Ritsuko stood up and glared at him. She didn't like interruptions in her tests.

"Unit-02! It-it's-" he struggled to speak while catching his breath.

"Unit-02 is what?" Shinji looked away from the others as they moved towards the simulated weapons.

"It activated by itself in the cage! It's trying to get its locks off!" Aoba finally managed to form a sentence.

"What?" Ritsuko stopped glaring after she heard what he had to say.

"Huh? What did she say?" Touji asked, finally stopping to listen.

"She said Unit-02 was- Hey, Shinji! Where are you going?" Kensuke watched him dart away from the test chamber in Unit-01.

"To figure out what's happening" he switched the comms off as he moved out of the chamber. "Miss Kyoko…"

--

"Activate the Bakelite! Get that thing frozen!" technicians and staff were running around the room and furiously stabbing at their keyboards in an attempt to get everything under control.

"What the hell is going on? I was in the break room when alarms started going off" Hyuga ran in. The technicians turned at looked at him. "Eh? Who's in Unit-02?"

"Nobody!"

"That's impossible"

"That's the problem!" the technician that was speaking to him turned back around. "Help us out here! We have to prevent it from getting out!"

"Move over! I have to do a scan!" Hyuga bumped a technician to the floor and swiveled his chair over to the keyboard. He pushed up his glasses before leaning in towards the keyboard and getting to work.

"A-Amazing…" the technicians gawked as he worked. "You can barely see his fingers…"

"Hyuga!" Maya ran in the room and stood behind him "How are things going in here?"

"I'm doing a scan… it's almost done… here it comes" he looked up and noticed that Aoba and Ritsuko were in the room as well.

"Have we figured out what's going on yet?" Shinji's voice came through the speakers in the cramped room.

"Confirmed! Unit-02 is confirmed! Blood type Blue! It's an angel!" Hyuga nearly jumped up out of his seat. Just as he said this, an earsplitting roar filled the room. The glass shattered as Unit-02 ripped it's legs free of it's bonds and shattered the Bakelite that they attempted to freeze it with.

"It's out! Shinji, hurry and get here before it starts destroying the ba-Ah!" Maya's voice was cut off by a shriek and a crash. The comm. Channel was filled with static on their end.

"Maya! Maya, what happened?! Shit!" Shinji growled.

"What happened to Maya!" Kensuke's voice split into Shinji's comm..

"I don't know! They're in trouble though!"

"Dammit! We don't even know how to use these things yet!" Touji complained. "Oh well! If this thing is trying to destroy the base and hurt people, let's kick it's ass!"

"Damn straight!" Rei shouted. Everyone was silent for a second, still moving, but at the same time shocked and confused. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"N-Nevermind that, Rei. Let's get going!"

--

"It's in the base, you know" Fuyutsuki scratched his chin and stood at Gendo's side. He was unnerved by the turn of events, but his professional attitude wouldn't let him show that.

"Ah, leave it to my boy Shinji. He can take it" Gendo yawned and put his legs up on his desk.

"That's your response?" Fuyutsuki's mouth dropped open slightly. This was really starting to scare him.

"What? We just need to have faith in him. He can do this. I know he can. Besides, sometimes you just gotta relax…"

--

"Dammit! Cover me!" Shinji peeked around the corner before ducking and dashing towards Unit-02. It had been hurling chunks of metal and shards of extremely hardened Bakelite at them. Shinji roared as he dropped his shoulder and slammed into it. He pinned it up against the wall. "If you can hear me in the command room, hit the button for lift 6!"

The command room's windows were shattered, and there was a large shard of Bakelite stabbed into part of the wall next to it. Luckily, the insides of it were relatively untouched. There was some smoke coming from it, though.

"Roger that, Shinji!" Misato's voice came through a curtain of static. He heard the lift whir to life, and the next thing he knew, the elevator was shooting them towards the surface.

"Unit-00 moving to lift 4! Send me up as backup!"

"Unit-03 on lift… uh… 8! Send me up as well"

"Unit-04 on lift 5! Ditto!"

"You got it!" Misato slammed on the buttons for the three lifts, and watched through the smoke as the three lifts shot upwards. She held her bleeding arm and went back to helping them put out a fire. Luckily, nobody was seriously injured. "Good luck up there…"

--

"Agh!" Shinji rolled as Unit-02 tossed him. He was used to these kinds of things now. He landed on his hand and planted his feet as he landed.

"Onii-san! We're on our way!"

"Got it, Rei" Shinji flicked all of the communication channels on without moving his eyes from the target. He took a deep breath and slowly started walking. Unit-02 mirrored his actions as they both circled each other, trying to get an advantage.

"…ello? Hello?" there was some coughing in the background. Everything that came through from the command room was bathed in static. "We've got the main communication channel back up!" Shinji recognized it as Hyuga's voice.

"What's our plan? That's an Angel, but it's also Unit-02!"

"Shinji, I know what you must be feeling right now… I know it's hers, but… we have to disregard it and consider it a target! We have to eliminate the threat!"

"Unit-03 here, I've made it to the surface. Moving to back up Unit-01!" Touji's voice came in clearer than the command channel.

"Nice, Touji! Where'd you learn to talk like that?" Kensuke grinned as he, too, arrived at the surface.

"Eh, you know. You pick it up after watching a couple action movies. Die Hard!"

"Guys!" Shinji interrupted them. They stayed silent after his interjection. "Misato, I can't just destroy it… You don't understand what it is!"

"But Shinji, you have to!"

"I can't!" Shinji shouted, slamming forward on the controls and dashing at Unit-02. "I'll eliminate the threat my own way!"

"Shinji, wait! I-" the static washed over the channel again and anything she said after that wasn't heard.

"Miss Kyoko… I'll defeat it, and I'll save you too!"

--

"Why do they have to space these things so far apart!" Touji whined again as they ran.

"We have to get to Onii-san fast…" Rei sounded worried, nothing like how she had been behaving recently.

"We know, Rei. And why do you keep complaining, Touji?" Kensuke poked fun at his friend, a smirk on his face.

"Hey, do _you_ want to try carrying this big, heavy particle cannon thing? No? Then shut the hell up!" he shot back, huffing as his friend laughed.

"Nnng! This thing is strong!" Shinji's voice came through again. For a moment, his channel had faded out.

"Don't worry, Shinji! I got you, man. Hold it steady until this thing charges, and I can blow it away!" Touji grinned and pulled down on the trigger to start the charging.

"No! You guys stay out of this. This is my battle" he growled as he pushed Unit-02 back. They were in a deadlocked grapple, both trying to force the other back.

"What? But Shinji, we can h-"

"No! I have to do this. You guys… wouldn't understand"

"Got it, Onii-san. If they try to move forward…" Rei paused and turned to look at the other two "I'll stop them before they can do anything"

"Thank you, Rei" Shinji nodded. He was still struggling to keep his footing. The street beneath them kept cracking and splitting.

"Woah…"

"Yeah, I know… She's pretty scary" the two friends decided it would be in their best interest to back off.

"C'mon… C'mon…" Shinji was straining to keep in this. They kept moving in a circle as they pushed against each other. Unit-02 leaned it's head closer to his and let out a deafening roar before it's arms went slightly slack. A loud popping noise could be heard. "Yes, I- What the hell?!" Shinji screamed as Unit-02 yanked him towards it. It's arms stretched and brought him back around. Unit-02 shrieked as it tossed him into a building.

"Shinji!" Touji started to take a step forward to help his friend, but then he remembered what he had said. He wanted to rub in there and make sure he was okay. He wanted to help him, but Shinji was certain. He didn't want any help. He had to honor that.

"Ugh…. I'm fine" he groaned. Unit-01's arm could be seen as it pulled itself out of a pile of rubble. "That surprised me a bit, but I got this…" he took a deep breath and rushed Unit-02 again. It's arms snapped back to their original length and it stood it's ground. "C'mon!" Shinji growled as he took a small jump, then planted his feet and turned it into a flip. He brought his foot down on it like a hammer, smashing straight into it's head.

"What are you going to do? We don't have the intel from underground. We have no idea how to fight this thing" Kensuke pointed out, struggling to hold his ground and not rush out there.

"Onii-san knows…"

"There's only one place where it could be!" Shinji delivered another punishing blow in the form of a punch to the back of Unit-02's head. It fell down to its knees and tried to stand back up, but Shinji never gave it a chance. "The plug slot! That's where it is!" He straightened all of his fingers so they were stiff, and plunged them into Unit-02's back.

"What do you mean? The Angel is inside of Unit-02 like we are in ours?" Touji asked, watching his friend.

"Yeah! I think…" Shinji pulled his arm back roughly and ripped the slot open. Unit-02's elbow shot back and bashed him in the face. "Agh!" he went flying, stopping a short distance away as he smashed into a bridge and broke it.

"_Raaaahhhh……"_ Unit-02 fixed it's glowing eyes on Unit-01. It stumbled towards him slowly, it's steps sluggish and sloppy. It nearly fell over several times.

"Uhh…" Shinji groaned as he pulled himself back up. His head was throbbing from that last blow. He looked up and watched Unit-02 fall on him. He tried to move, but ended up catching it instead. Unit-02 butted heads with Unit-01 and growled. The growl sounded like a feral beast, mixed with creaking and tearing metal. It stared right into Shinji's eyes as he tried to sit up.

"What is this?" Shinji noticed a drop on the viewscreen. Then another. And another. They were all over the place now. Unit-02 exhaled sharply, and Shinji noticed it's face was starting to blur. At first, he thought it was a problem with the screen. Now, though, he knew. It's face liquefied and poured down onto the screen. "Dammit! What's happening?!" error messages flashed all over the cockpit, and his arms suddenly burned. The feelings were starting to travel up his body.

"Onii-san!" he heard Rei's voice, and felt the vibrations. She had to have been running towards him. "Hold on!"

Shinji heard Kensuke and Touji's voices, but they slowly started to mix together with background noise and his own groaning. His eyes slowly shut and his head hit back against the seat.

"It's… trying to get inside of me…" he managed to get out. "Agh!" his head felt like thousands of icy needles were stabbing into it. He could barely handle the pain. For some reason, part of him didn't hurt. He remembered back to the time his father had forsaken family for work…

--

"_I have to go now, Shinji. There's work that needs to be done"_

"_What am I going to do? Am I going to help?"_

"_No, Shinji… We… I can't live here anymore. I can't stay. I'm leaving it behind. All of it. That includes you. Goodbye, Shinji"_

"_Wait, father! Father! What do you mean you're leaving me behind?!"__** Don't you want me, you bastard?!**_

"…" _Gendo didn't turn back to look at him. He continued to walk. __**Yeah, that's right! Keep walking, you coward!! Leave it all behind! Forget about me, and forget about mom! YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO HAVE MEMORIES OF US! LIAR! COWARD!! DESERTER!! FAKER!! YOU DON'T LOVE US AND YOU NEVER DID!**_

--

_Do I… Really feel like that? I… I guess I do…_

Shinji opened his eyes. He saw the old house, the house where he had spent his early childhood. The house where he had a family. A real family, with a loving mother and a caring father. The place they all left behind as an empty vessel. An ornate shrine dedicated to the life that was taken away from him. The place where he had left his happiness and well being behind.

_That place…_

The place where he had lived as a boy, and the place he had left behind to become a man. The house vanished, fading away into a mist. He felt like he was falling headfirst, upside down. He was stopped suddenly, his feet planted firmly on the ceiling. Then it flipped. He was standing on the ground, looking out into a test chamber from behind a thick sheet of glass. His gaze drifted around the room. It looked familiar, but at the same time, completely alien.

"Mommy! Mommy!" he turned around. He saw a child leaning against the glass, waving at whatever it was out there.

_W-Wait! This place is…! That day!_

"This is a lab, not a daycare"

"Please forgive me. I wanted to bring him along" the voice grabbed hold of Shinji and calmed him. Her voice was beautiful… it reached deep down into him, into the depths of his memory.

_Mom…_

"Evangelion Unit-01 activation experiment commencing in three… two… one…" his father spoke now. His voice wasn't as deep, but Shinji could recognize it anywhere. This was when his mom's soul was…. Did Gendo know?

_MOM!!_

Shinji covered his eyes as there was a brilliant light. Even with his eyes closed and his hands over them, the light still hurt his eyes.

_No! No! NO!_

_**F-f-f-faaaaaaa……FATHER!**_

--

"Hah!" Shinji sat up. He screamed as he did. His body burned and his arms and legs felt as heavy as lead. He looked around. He was still in the cockpit.

"Onii-san! Hold on!" he could feel some rustling outside. Unit-01 shook slightly as something bumped against it. The view screen went from black and red to a static buzz. The static slowly cleared out. The sun was setting now. He could see Rei holding Unit-02 in her arms. Touji and Kensuke moved forward and help Shinji up. Unit-03 grabbed his left arm, and Unit-04 grabbed his right.

"Are you okay, man?" Touji sounded worried.

"I… Yeah, actually…" Now that Shinji started moving, the pain was gone. He rubbed his head and sighed. "I take it the Angel is…"

"Destroyed" Kensuke informed him. Shinji chuckled softly and laid back again. "How is Unit-02?"

"Completely fine. You did a great job" Maya's voice came in clear now.

"Yeah, but you put yourself in great danger and acted stupid and selfish… like always" Misato sighed and laughed.

"Well, I _have_ been teaching him everything I know" Kaji joked. Everybody laughed as Touji and Kensuke dragged Unit-01 towards the lift, and Rei walked with Unit-02 slung over her back.

"I knew you could do it, Onii-san…"

"Thanks, Rei. It's good to know _some_ people believe in me. Isn't that right Misato?" Shinji cocked and eyebrow and chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get back to base, you guys. That's an order"

"Yes, ma'am"

--

The boy sighed, watching from a distance.

"So those are real Evangelions…?" he smirked. "So much for Bardiel. I wonder why they fight so hard when they're already going to win anyway" he shrugged and laid back. The sunset was beautiful as he watched it from a hill. "Haven't been down here in too long…"

"_Our timetable is limited. Speed it up"_

"Pah. Old bastards… Trying to rush me? You don't rush perfection. Or rather, you can't" he laughed loudly and stretched. "Just because you rule everything politically and all… Just because you rule everything of this Earth… Doesn't mean you can control me"

--

"You sure? After all of that, you don't want to go and relax?" Kensuke asked again, handing Shinji an orange soda.

"No. Not right now. I have some things I need to take care of. We can do something tomorrow" he smiled and nodded. His smile was faint and looked as if it had other emotions mixed in with it.

"Alright, man. I'll catch you tomorrow, then!"

"Yeah, sure" Shinji sighed and left the locker room, his street clothes back on. He kept his head lowered as he walked down the hallway. Two arms slipped around his as he walked and he looked up.

"Onii-san…" Rei smiled and walked with him. "Are we headed home?"

"Yeah we-" he paused to think "Actually… you go ahead of me. Wait for me by the elevator. I need to go check something out real quick"

"Okay!"

--

Everyone had cleared out of the cold room. After preliminary scans were finished, Unit-02 was determined to be completely empty, and in full working condition. The only damage done to it was the back plate that he had ripped off.

"Miss Kyoko…" Shinji stepped forward onto the small electronic lift. He hit the button for the third level. He stepped off when it reached the top, and walked across the catwalk. All five of the units were staring at him as he moved. He stopped in front of Unit-02. He reached a hand out, gently stroking the side of it's face. "Are you okay in there…?"

Silence answered him. He closed his eyes and continued to stroke it's cheek. He sighed and stopped moving his hand. He opened his eyes when he heard a giggle/

"_You're so serious! Of course I'm okay. I'm Asuka's mother, remember? It'll take a little more than that to hurt me!"_

Shinji smiled as she said this. He stood up straighter in front of it. As he turned to leave, he could have sworn that it was smiling at him.

--

"… _I'm leaving it all behind…"_

"Father…" Shinji sighed and closed his eyes while he walked. "I definitely have to think about this… I need to get rid of all the confusion, and find out just how I feel" he nodded and opened his eyes. "If I don't… This will just keep coming back to haunt me"

"Onii-san!" Rei jogged over to him as he came into view. "You're back! Are we going now?"

"Yeah, Rei" Shinji smiled as she fell in behind him and he pressed the elevator call button "Let's go home"


	7. Rage is just age with an r

Chapter seven :D

Sorry it took so long to update X.x

School life has been pretty hectic. Composing music, juggling math, sleeping in chem, and eating up US History. Not that it isn't fun.

Well, I finally finished it w

A little tip: If you haven't yet seen Tropic Thunder, you should. Great movie. I swear, that man Rober Downey Jr. must be some sort of demigod. Such great acting...

Just recently, he played an amazing Tony Stark(Iron man), and now he's got his character, Kirk Lazarus. Once you see the whole 'Lead Farmer' scene, you'll understand XD

Anyway, enjoy D

Oops. one last thing XP

If you read my other story, the LoZ fic, I'm getting close to working on an update, so I might have the next chapter up soon. That's if I have enough time X.x

Music:"The Energy" Audiovault, "Stupid MF" Mindless Self Indulgence, "Say it ain't so" Weezer, and "Fighters" Lupe Fiasco ft. Matthew Santos

"You… Don't want to go in there right now" Kensuke grabbed a girl's shoulder as she reached for the door to the classroom.

"Why not?"

"Just trust me"

--

Touji kept his gaze directed towards the ground and rubbed his cheek. It was red hot and it still stung. He stayed completely silent, only moving his hand.

"How could you not tell me?!"

"I… I didn't want you to be worried. I-"

"Don't I have a right to be worried?!"

"I know, but-"

"But nothing! You didn't even understand how to use it all the way and you went into the fight anyway? Do you know how worried I was when I couldn't find you in the shelter?"

"I'm sorry… You're right. You have a right to be worried about me as a friend, and as class rep-"

"This isn't about that!" Hikari spun around with clenched fists. She was breathing heavily, and her normally tied up hair was now in her face. "This isn't about how I worry about you as a friend, or as your class rep!"

"Hikari…"

"It's about how-"she sniffled, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "How I worry about you… as a woman…"

--

"Dammit…" Shinji panted as he slowed to a stop. Sweat was pouring down his face. He looked around the area. It was too dark to see anything. All he could see was the grass under his feet and the bamboo stalks that swayed slowly with the light breeze. A snap broke his concentration. He spun and his sword flew from its sheath and cut across the darkness. He was rewarded with the sound of several bamboo stalks clattering to the ground. "Not there…"

"You're concentration is broken…"

"Behind me" Shinji turned and brought his sword up. There was nothing in front of him. "Again…?"

"You're not focusing!"

"There!" Shinji sidestepped and stabbed forward. He growled as he pulled the tip of his blade from a log. "Damn… I can't…"

"You can't…? Don't use that word! The first step towards failure starts within the mind!"

"Damn!" Shinji dropped to the ground quickly as a quick gust of air swept above him, and the bamboo stalks next to him fell.

"Again! You're vulnerable!" the sound of footsteps could be heard. Shinji closed his eyes and waited.

_Almost… almost… now!_

He flipped back onto his feet, brought his sword up, placed his hand on the revere dull edge of his sword and brought it up. The swords clashed, and a surprised cry came from the darkness. He rushed forward, grabbed the person, and slammed them to the ground.

"Gotcha" he smirked "Now you die"

"You think I'll die like this?!"

"Yes I do… sensei" Shinji smiled and pulled the older man up.

"Ah, you're getting too good for this old man" Fuyutsuki chuckled as he rubbed his back. He sheathed his sword and sat down on the grass. "I knew you'd be fine, even if you missed a day of training"

"Thank you, sensei" he bowed his head slightly.

"Relax, relax." Fuyutsuki pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. The lights in the large NERV greenhouse came on. They were UV lights tuned to put out as much light and the same quality light you'd get outside. "You've earned it"

"You think so?" Shinji sighed and fell back. He enjoyed lying on the slightly wet grass.

"Yes, I do"

"Yeah but… I still haven't found any leads as to where Asuka is…" he sighed again and closed his eyes.

"Don't worry, Shinji. You will" Fuyustuki smiled and patted him on the head.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just… so worried about her. Where she is, what's happening to her, who has her captured right now…"

"I know how you feel… A feeling of helplessness. I felt that same feeling years ago, back when Project E, or Evangelion, was in it's first stages. You remember back to that horrible day, don't you…?" Fuyutsuki looked to Shinji as he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Yeah, about my mother… Sensei, you… Really liked her, didn't you?"

"What? Well, I guess so… She was a great student, a smart woman, and an even more caring mother. She was a brave, free soul. She didn't deserve what happened to her at all…"

"Yeah… but it was necessary, wasn't it? When I first found out about what happened to her, I was so angry and confused… but it was what she wanted though, isn't it? To protect the Earth. Wait, how did you know I knew, Sensei?"

"Just a feeling" Fuyustuki chuckled, and sighed "I guess so. That's all Yui thought about. The wellbeing of everyone. She put others before herself. She was truly a beautiful, wonderful young woman"

"Sensei?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'll ever see her again?" Shinji looked up to the aging man with eyes full of respect and curiosity.

""I'm almost positive…"

--

"What the hell is this?" Ren snorted and cocked his head to the side as he looked through a window. He scratched his head and shrugged. "'Death and Rebirth'? Eh, don't need it" he shrugged and continued walking, the movie forgotten. "Hm? Who's that?" his attention was called across the street to a girl in a school uniform. "Nice…" he smirked.

The light changed and she started walking across the street. Ren had made up his mind. He moved quickly, trying to intercept her. He stopped at the curb right in front of her. She looked up from the street up at him.

_Mmm…. I like the shade of red her eyes are… And that blue hair, too. Strange… But I like strange_

He smirked before sweeping his hair back and holding a hand out to her.

"Hey, babe. You busy?" she looked mature, so he was sure that she wouldn't refuse him.

"Yep! I'm going to see my Onii-san!" she nodded, then continued walking. His mouth was slightly open as she left.

"Oh well… Guess I should get going" he sighed and once again started his walk towards the outskirts of town.

--

"Onii-san! I brought you lunch!" Rei held up the plastic bags she had carried to the base. Shinji looked over to the doorway and smiled.

"Hey, Rei. I was wondering if you were coming today"

"Of course I'd be coming!" she nodded and walked over to him. She noticed Fuyutsuki as she sat down. "I brought extra food too"

"Oh? How nice of you, Rei. We can have a little picnic, eh?" Fuyutsuki smiled and set his sword aside.

"Yes, sir!" she nodded her head and began to take out what she had packed. "I have rice balls, soup, and sliced fruit!"

"Sounds delicious!"

--

"You… just don't do it again…" Hikari sniffled again as she turned her head to the side. She felt better now that Touji had held her and comforted her.

"I won't. I promise" he whispered, stroking her head. "Don't worry about it, though. Shinji is teaching us, so we're learning fast. And they said we're just going to be backup or defense until we actually learn how to control the Eva's. I'll be fine"

"I know, but what if something happens? What if-"

"Shh…" he put a finger against her lips. "Nothing is going to happen. I'm happy about this, actually… I get to help defend the city. I get to protect my little sister, my dad, and you"

"I know. That's kind of… cool" she smiled softly, her eyes only slightly wet now.

"Cool? That doesn't sound like you"

"Aw, geez!" she sighed, puling away from him and folding her arms across her chest "I try to be positive and supportive, and this is how you reply"

"Ah! Sorry!" Touji looked worried as he scratched the back of his head and tried to think of something to say that would fix the situation.

"It's fine" Hikari smiled and patted him on the head. "You'll be fine, I guess. You _do_ have Shinji with you. He's been piloting for a while"

"Exactly! See? I'll be fine"

--

"Hurry up, Onii-san!" Rei turned around and sighed, watching Shinji walk along the sidewalk.

"Sorry, Rei… I just feel exhausted. I guess I over did it in training today…"

"No excuses!" Rei turned her head to the side and grabbed him by the arm. She dragged him along with her towards the school. "We have to meet up with the others, remember?"

"Oh yeah. They're waiting for us in the classroom, right?"

"Yeah! Although I think the girl's literature club might be there today…"

--

"This way! This way, ladies!" Kensuke was waving girls down the hallway. He was directing them away from the classroom that his two friends were in, and into one down the hall. "This classroom is currently in use"

"But we always use this classroom! What's so important that we can't use our classroom?"

"Hikari and Touji are… 'making up'"

"Oh… hee hee, we understand" there were some more snickers and giggles as the girls moved over to the other room.

"Kensuke! How late are we?" Shinji's voice floated over the girls that were chatting as they walked down the hall.

"Shinji, Rei! You're not late at all. The 'couple' is still inside"

"How did she take the news?" Shinji leaned up against the door and pressed his ear up against it. He couldn't hear anything, so he pulled away from it.

"Well… I was about to buy the coffin earlier…"

"That bad?"

"Well, it's not like that anymore. She was mad, then sad, and now she's happier. She's confused, but I think she's supporting him on this" Kensuke smiled and flashed a thumbs up.

"That's good. You know, for a while there I thought he didn't even notice that she liked him. Playing hard to get, that sly dog, eh?"

"I heard that, Shinji" the door slid open, and Touji was standing there, his arms crossed.

"Shit! Don't surprise me like that!"

"Well, come on in. We're done with our little talk" Hikari stepped out from behind Touji, her eyes still a little red.

_She must have been crying…_

"Alright. I guess we should get this meeting started?"

"Definitely" Kensuke stepped forward and sat at a desk. "I found some information the other night"

"Information? About Asuka?" Shinji stiffened up. Was it too good to be true?

"Yeah, I found this" Kensuke reached into his bag and pulled some folded papers out. "It took some digging around, but it was worth it, I think"

"Thanks" Shinji took it from him quickly and set about unfolding the papers. He read through them all quickly, his eyes scanning the text. When he was done with the last paper, he growled softly and tightened his grip on the paper until it almost ripped. "We need to talk…"

--

"This is so awkward…" Misato mumbled, looking around but making sure to move as little as possible.

"You can say that again. I hate coming in here. The place gives me the creeps" Kaji sighed, still standing straight as they waited.

"Ah, thank you for waiting. Sorry I took so long. I was just watering some plants" Gendo walked out from a side room and sat at his desk. Kaji noted that the plant he had heard about was now in bloom. It was starting to look like a small tree. "Anyway, I called you here to discuss my son's dilemma"

"You mean tracking down Asuka? We're working our hardest, and we haven't managed to find anything" Misato sounded a bit disappointed as she admitted this.

"It's not easy, but I think we're getting close to a breakthrough" Kaji nodded slowly.

"I see. That's good. I think we shou-"

"Father!" the door to his office slid open and Shinji stepped in, followed by Rei and his group.

"Ah Shinji! We were just talking about you…"

"Who is this?!" Shinji slammed the paper down on his desk. He looked extremely angry.

"Hmm…" Gendo read through the paper Shinji showed to him and scratched his chin as he went. "Ahh…" he nodded. "Gentleman, ladies, I think we've got our first lead" Gendo grinned as he folded the paper neatly and set it back down.

--

"Finally, a lead…" Shinji muttered. It was cold outside and raining as they rode in the back of the NERV SUV. It seemed like the world had flipped over and become its opposite in the short time they were underground.

"Calm down, Onii-san…" Rei rubbed Shinji's shoulders. He seemed really tense, almost as tense as he was the first day that Asuka was gone. She could understand that, seeing as how he had found out who kidnapped Asuka.

"What was his name again? Kaworu?" Touji asked, looking to Kensuke.

"Yeah, Nagisa Kaworu. He's ex-Special Forces. His strong suits are in kidnapping and assassination. His young age is what helps him blend in" Kensuke read the printout for everyone to hear.

"How did you manage to get that? We worked our asses off and we didn't find a single thing!" Misato joked, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Because I have skills" Kensuke replied smugly, completing the display with a big, smug grin.

"Yeah, yeah… We could have found something if Katsuragi here wasn't so inept with computers…" Kaji muttered, looking off to the side. There was a round of hushed laughter in the back. It was funny, but none of them wanted to laugh lest they face the wrath of Misato.

"What did you say…?" Misato asked. She swerved the SUV to the side and made Kaji smack his head on the window.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"Oh? Did I do something?" Misato asked cutely. She sounded innocent as she hummed and drove.

"So where exactly are we headed?" Shinji asked. He leaned back into his seat and sighed. Rei sat back as well, removing her hands from his shoulder.

"Well, from what I've found, this Kaworu person set up a base of operations in a warehouse in the abandoned section of old Tokyo that's still above the water line" Kensuke pushed his glasses up "He's pretty sly"

"Doesn't matter though. We're gonna catch him" Misato smirked "We've got us, plus four other SUV's full of soldiers. There's no way he'll get away" she seemed pretty confident.

"We can only hope…"

--

_BZZZZZZZ!!_

"Nng…"

_BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!_

"Dammit…."

_BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!_

"Alright! Alright! Damn alarm…. Wait, alarm?" he sat up quickly, looking around. "Did I have any contacts coming in today? No… Shitshitshitshit" he shook his head and got dressed. He knocked over some papers as he grabbed his shirt. He saw his card on the ground.

_Nagisa Kaworu_

_413__th__ Velvet Shadow_

"Tch, ancient history" he disregarded it as he grabbed his gun and pulled his coat on. "Perfect time for it to be raining" he sighed as he stepped out into the rain with his binoculars.

--

"We have the element of surprise, so we- Ah!" Misato screamed as an explosion rocked the SUV. One of the SUV's next to them flipped over in a flaming heap, only its frame still intact after that devastating explosion.

"What were you saying about the element of surprise?!" Shinji yelled as he ducked with his hands over his head.

"_This is private property that you're trespassing on. Turn back and leave or I'll be forced to use my right to self-defense. You have been warned"_ a voice boomed through a speaker system.

"Maybe we should turn around, this is danger-"

"_Man, I hope they bought that. That was my only pack of explosives left… Hey, is this thing still on? Oh shit!"_

"Scratch that" Misato gripped the steering wheel and slammed on the gas. The SUV sped through the streets towards the warehouse.

"_This is Eagle eye, your eye in the sky. Target is currently pissing his pants while trying to collect his stuff. Doesn't look like he'll be able to go anywhere though. I'll keep you posted on his movements"_

"Roger that. Thanks Eagle Eye" Kaji spoke into the radio. He reached down and pulled his sidearm from its ankle holster. He pulled the slide back and closed his eyes. Misato followed suit, only without closing her eyes. If she had, that would been bad. VERY bad.

"You guys stay behind. Even though he may not have anymore explosives, he's still former Special Forces, and he might have more traps out there" Misato pulled over and opened her door.

"But-"

"Don't worry, Shinji. We'll take care of him" Kaji grinned and patted Shinji on the head. The two of them slammed their doors and left the group in the car. In the vacuum left behind by Kaji and Misato leaving, there was an awkward silence.

"So… pretty intense, huh? An explosion, ex-Special Forces man on the run, and guns" Kensuke was the one who finally broke it.

"You can say that again" Touji sighed. "Whooo… So this is what you guys have had to go through everyday for so long?"

"Well, not exactly…" Rei shrugged. She was about to speak again, but was interrupted by Shinji. He removed his seat belt and opened the door.

"Shinji!"

"Onii-san! Where are you going? Misato and Kaji told us to stay here"

"I don't care. I'm gonna get him. Just watch" Shinji ran off before they could stop him.

"Well… I hate to be the one to do this, but.." Rei pulled her cell phone out and dialed Misato's number.

--

"Dammit! We can't pin this slippery little bastard down. Squads two and three, block off the doors! Squad one, flush him out. Kaji, let's go the opposite way of squad one to head him off. Huh?" Misato stopped when her phone started ringing. There hadn't been any shots yet, but she played it safe by ducking behind a pillar. "Hello?"

"Misato? It's Rei"

"Yes, Rei? What do you need?"

"Umm… Onii-san ran off. We tried to stop him, but…"

"What? Dammit Shinji…" she sighed and shook her head "Stay in the SUV, and we'll find him after we catch this guy"

"Yes ma'am"

"Misato!" Kaji yelled as Misato hung her phone up.

"What?"

"He's coming right at you!"

"Huh? Damn!" Misato tried to grab him as he darted past her and leapt through a broken window.

--

"Where is everyone?" Shinji muttered, looking around. It was cold and his school clothes were soaked. He rubbed his arms in a vain attempt to warm up. He heard a crash in an alley and ran towards it.

"Phew… I never thought I was going to get out of there…" a boy said as he stood up. He stretched and looked around. "Huh? I thought I got away!" he started to run again as he saw Shinji.

"Hey! Get back here you bastard!" Shinji growled as he took off after him.

"No can do, man!" the boy in front of him knocked some wet boxes over and some garbage cans as he ran. Shinji jumped over them and stepped around them as he pursued the boy. He didn't look much older than him.

"Are you Nagisa Kaworu?!"

"What's it to ya?"

"I'm gonna get you!" Shinji sped up as he screamed this.

"Damn you're fast, but I'm faster!" Kaworu grabbed a pole and used it to swing his body around a corner. Shinji did the same as came to the same spot. Kaworu squeezed past a dumpster in the new narrow alley. His foot snagged on something, which made him stumble and trip. "Crap!"

Shinji watched him get back up and try to run. He didn't give him the time to take off this time. He jumped off of the top of the dumpster and tackled him down to the ground.

"Gah! What the hell?!" Kaworu looked up at an extremely pissed off Shinji.

"Where is she?!"

"What the hell are you talking about, man?"

"Wrong answer" Shinji pulled his fist back and delivered a punishing punch to his nose. He grabbed Kaworu's neck as he coughed and blood spilled from his nose. "Where is she?! Tell me now!"

"Who? You mean that red haired girl?"

"Where is she?!" Shinji squeezed his neck, his patience slipping. He kept his breath cut off for a couple seconds, then let go when Kaworu looked like he was blacking out. He gasped for air and coughed, shaking his head.

"I don't know where she is!"

"Don't lie to me!" Shinji slammed his head against the pavement and pulled his fist back once again. He punched him in the mouth a couple times before letting him fall all the way back to the pavement. Kaworu had to take some time to spit all of the blood out of his mouth before talking.

"I don't know… I delivered her to my contact" he coughed up more blood and took in a deep breath before continuing "what they do after I deliver or complete a contract is none of my bus-"

"You know something you're not telling me! Spit it out!"

"Okay! Okay! I remember them saying something about the 'Sea of Black'. But I swear that's all I know!" Kaworu screamed, the blood still spilling from his nose.

"Are you sure you're Special Forces?"

"Yeah, I just have an extremely low tolerance to pain"

"Like this?" Shinji brought his fist down one last time, right in the center of his face.

"Shinji! I-oh my god…" Misato stopped when she saw Shinji stand up over Kaworu. His face was a bloody mess and it didn't look like he was breathing. The rain washed the blood off of Shinji's hand and arm as he wiped his face.

He walked past his friends who took a step back from him as they stared at Kaworu. "Told you I'd get him, didn't I…?"

"Yeah man, but…" Touji didn't know what to say.

"I guess we got him, but still…" Kensuke looked away. It hurt just looking at the bloodied, possibly dead Kaworu.

"Yeah we got him. That's good isn't it?" Shinji asked, turning to look at all of his friends. None of them would look him in the eye. "I got him, right Kaji? Misato?" he looked to them for approval. They still refused to look him in the eye.

"I can see I'll be celebrating this one on my own" he scoffed, looking away from them. "You'd think you'd be happy that I stopped him before we lost him, but I guess not. Not even you, Rei?" he looked at the pale, silent girl.

She was silent for a second before smiling and holding two fingers out in a V. "Great job Onii-san!"

"Heh… at least you appreciate it… You want to save her just like I do" Shinji continued walking away after he finished his sentence. He climbed into the empty SUV and shut the door. "I'll save you… No matter what…"

--

Misato had her eyes shut the entire time he walked away. After she heard the door shut, she couldn't hold back anymore. Her knees felt weak and she couldn't keep the tears back. She felt Kaji's arm on her back, supporting her. She leaned into his chest and cried.

"Did I make him a killer? Is it my fault he did this? Have I not been a good guardian?"

"Shh… Shh… no, you've been a great guardian. He's just frustrated and confused by all of this. He was holding back all of his negative emotions and bottling them up. He thought he could hold it back... He fooled us all. He even fooled himself. When the time came, though, it all exploded." He stroked her head as he comforted her.

"I can't believe this happened… I-I just wanted to help. I didn't think this would happen" Kensuke shook his head as he and Touji stood above Kaworu's body.

"Aren't you happy for Onii-san?" Rei asked, looking them over.

"What? Of course we aren't! He just killed someone!"

"But he got him. I don't understand… I'm going to go with Onii-san" Rei turned away from them.

"Rei, do you understand what just happened?" Touji asked slowly, watching her walk towards the SUV.

"Yes"

"And you still support what he did?"

"I'll stand by Onii-san forever… No matter what he does or what he becomes. I swear it" she ended her conversation with them at that, walking towards the SUV quickly and climbing in.

"Oh man…" Kensuke shook his head again.

"It's okay, man… None of us knew this was gonna happen. Not even Shinji, I think. I- Wait… He's still breathing!" Touji leaned down and felt his neck. "He's got a pulse!"

"Huh?" Misato pulled away from Kaji's chest and looked over to Touji. She moved over to Kaworu with Kaji's help and laid a shaking hand on his neck. She hesitated before finally placing it down. She didn't want to find out that the pulse he felt was a mistake. "He's… alive. Get a stretcher! And a medic! I know Squad Three has one! Move it!"

--

"Onii-san?" Rei slipped into the SUV quickly. She sat down next to Shinji and looked over at him. He was looking out the window; his head leaned up against the cool glass.

"Yes…?" he sounded exhausted. He sighed and moved away from the window. He leaned forward, his head resting in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Rei scooted over and set her hands on his shoulders.

"I don't know… What's wrong with me? Why did I do that? It's true that I'm frustrated and angry about not being able to find Asuka, but…"

"Its okay, Onii-san…" Rei closed her eyes and pulled him against her chest. She patted his head softly.

"Rei… Thank you for being here for me. After what I did out there, the others probably won't even look at me, much less talk to me…"

"I'll always be here for you, Onii-san. Whenever you need me" she held him a bit tighter. "I'm Onii-san's woman completely…"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. But… you didn't kill the man, did you?"

"How did you know?"

"I guess you could call it… intuition"

--

"Wake up!"

"Hmm…?"

"Wake up! Now!"

"Ah!" Asuka felt something land on her back.

"Come on, wake up!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" she threw the small blanket she had been afforded off of her and turned around.

"Finally! I thought you'd never wake up!"

"And… who are you?" Asuka asked, scratching her head. In front of her sat a little blond haired girl. He skin was slightly pale and she had tinged red eyes. Her eyes looked huge as she blinked.

"I'm Enya!" she smiled as she told Asuka her name. She was sitting in a black outfit bigger than she was. Not by much though. She looked like a grade schooler.

"Hello Enya. What are you doing here?" she yawned. This definitely was weird, but she was really tired.

"I'm here watching the station because Onii-san had to leave for a bit" she nodded and changed the way she was sitting.

"Onii-san…? Ah!" Asuka remembered who she was talking about now. The bastard who was always taunting her. "Where did he go, exactly?"

"Down there!" Enya pointed out towards the Earth.

"How did he get down there?"

"He flew!"

"Like in a spaceship?"

"No. Onii-san can fly!" Enya held her arms out like a plane.

"Okay, okay" Asuka laughed at how the girl was acting. She didn't get her question answered, but being with this little girl made her feel… more at ease.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"Sure, why not" Asuka smiled and sat up.

--

Ren sighed. It was nice down here. Being cooped up on that cramped piece of floating junk wasn't exactly the picture of paradise it sounded like.

"Relaxing on he job, I see"

"Huh? Oh, hey Z" he sighed.

"What are you doing here anyway? Did they call you down here?"

"Yeah. For a stupid meeting. They said to get back as soon as possible, but I think I'm gonna hang out here for a bit longer"

"Really now?"

"Yeah. You know how much I love that place" Ren looked up towards the sky and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes. I have to get to work now, so I'll be seeing you"

"Yeah, or won't be seeing me ever again" he smirked. There were some things about this jobs that were so ironically funny…


	8. Daddy

Chapter 8 XP

My life, my school, my problems. They are all taking time away from my passions T.T

I hardly have any time to write or play my guitar. That's why it took so long to update this time. sorry for the wait. Almost around three weeks x.x

I decided to go in and do a chapter about Misato's past, and how it affects her present. I hopeyou enjoy it

Music: "More than a feeling" Boston, "The Crimson" Atreyu, "The Real Folk Blues" Yoko Kano and the Seatbelts, "TANK!" Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, and "Six" All That Remains.

I cerntainly hope to bring out Chapter 9 quicker than I did with this one x.x

Once again, I hope you enjoy D

"_Misato… I'm sorry…"_

"_Daddy, I-"the cold, unfeeling-yet protective- doors to the rescue pod slammed shut to protect it's inhabitant, unknowingly cutting her off from the last moments with her father. She didn't know what was happening, but it hurt. Everything hurt. Her body, her insides, her brain felt like it was pounding against her skull, and her heart was aching from the thought of what had become of her father._

"_Father… why did this have to happen…?"_

--

Misato sat straight up, the tank top and short shorts she put on before climbing into bed after a long day of work were soaked with sweat. She took in a couple deep breaths and sighed in the darkness of her room.

"That dream again…"

--

"Good morning, Misato!" Rei bowed slightly and handed Misato a tray with a cup of coffee on it. She did a small curtsy in the dress she was wearing.

"Rei… Where did you get that maid dress?"

"Hmm? You can get just about anything if you know the Commander's weaknesses" Rei smirked evilly and winked at Misato as she bent down and pulled out some groceries. "Will you be able to stay for breakfast today?"

"Yeah. God knows I need it… I'm getting sick of instant foods. You and Shinji have spoilt me" she stuck her tongue out and leaned back in her chair. She looked to the garbage can. It was surprisingly clean. Unlike the past, where it would be packed past full with empty beer cans and instant ramen cups, it was tidied up. There weren't even any beer cans on the ground or on the tables.

"That's good! I'll make some for you as well. Onii-san will need his too, of course!"

"Shinji…" Misato looked towards his room. He had been cooped up in there for two days now, not leaving to room to take a shower, to use the bathroom, to go to school, or to eat. Rei always took him his food. She looked to her secondary slide out fridge. She knew it was empty. Ever since Shinji moved in, she had gradually stopped replenishing her supply of beer. After a while, she stopped drinking the stuff completely. She wondered what made her do it many times, and after a while she started to think maybe it was because she was starting to feel like a mother. "You think he's going to come out anytime soon?"

"Onii-san? I don't know. I-"

"So what's for breakfast?"

"Shinji…?" Misato looked over at Shinji. He was wearing a white shirt that had gotten dirty, and a pair of shorts. He looked… different. Not like he had when he had slinked off to his room.

"Onii-san!" Rei put her ingredients down and jumped on Shinji, wrapping him in a hug.

"Ah! Rei! Didn't I tell you to stop doing stuff like that?" Shinji laughed. He wasn't anything like he was two days ago. "I'll go take a shower while you cook. I don't want to be late for school" he nodded.

"Okay!"

--

Shinji sighed as the hot water washed over him. He felt a bit strange having not bathed for two days. He closed his eyes as it felt like all the dirt on his body and in his mind slid down the drain with the water.

"I can't believe I let myself do that..." he shook his head "I don't have the time for or the need for self-pity. So what, I made a mistake. Everybody makes them!" he stood up straight, nodded his head with a determined look on his face. "You can't take back a mistake, but you can make up for it! I won't dwell on this anymore!" he slapped his palm down on his hand.

"… you've really grown up"

"Huh?" Shinji spun around, embarrassed. Was somebody in there with him? He pulled the curtains back and looked around. There was no one. Just a steam filled room. "Wait… that voice… Mom?" he closed his eyes. Was it really her? Was he hearing things? Was he- but by the time he had come up with the next question, a blast of cold water shocked him out of it.

"Rei!" he shrieked, jumping out of the path of the ice cold water "Turn off the water! I'm taking a shower, remember?! Jeez…"

--

The road was smooth. But Misato knew that that wouldn't last. There it was: the bumpy section of the road. She smiled softly as she saw a giant footprint.

"One small step for man…" she sighed as she turned into a tunnel. Her mind drifted back to her dream from earlier.

_Even if I did hate him… That was no way to go…_

She sighed again as she emerged from the tunnel. She came back to a question that had kept her awake at night for a while now: If things hadn't gone as they had, if her father didn't discover Adam or the Lance of Longinus, would things be the same? Would she know all of the great people she knew now? Would she have ever met Shinji or Asuka? She gasped and swerved to avoid a honking truck.

"I need to stop zoning out…"

--

"_I didn't have to do that… I should have known better…" Shinji put his hands in his head in the darkness. It was completely silent, as if nobody else was in the apartment. But he knew better. "Rei, how long are you going to sit there?"_

_There was a small rustle, then a bang as she fell down trying to scramble away. He shook his head. Why was she always so worried about him? He laid down on his bed, bringing his knees up to his chest and bringing the blanket up over him. He just wanted to be left alone._

--

"Of course, I'm better now" Shinji nodded as he sat with Touji and Kensuke. He was glad that they were understanding and not trying to avoid him or anything.

"That's good. We were worried about you, man" Kensuke slapped him on the back and took a bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah, man. At first we were worried because you weren't showing your emotions, then we were worried you'd go into a depression again"

"I did, but I slapped myself around. I realized that anyone who hasn't made a mistake hasn't lived a day in real life"

"I hear that! I just wish Hikari would go easier on me when I made mistakes…" Touji sighed and rubbed his head.

"Speaking of Hikari, where is she? And where's Rei?"

--

"Thanks for helping me put stuff away, Rei. Just wait here. I'll be right back, alright?" Hikari smiled over at Rei and took her clothes. She had changed into some other clothes to clean the room like she had promised her teacher.

"Alright!" Rei smiled back and sat down at a desk. She took out a small red book and a pen and started tapping her chin. She set the pen down and stood up. "I'm going to go use the bathroom!"

"Alright!" Hikari shouted back as she finished changing. She put the clothes back on the shelf in the little supply cabinet off to the side. She opened the door and looked around. She saw the little red book on the table. "Hmmm? What's this?"

--

"Onii-san! I'm home!" Rei shouted happily as she set her bag down. "Onii-san?" she looked around. Where was he? She heard a little bump from her room and decided to investigate.

"Ah! Onii-san! What did I tell you about this!"

"Hmm?" Shinji turned around and looked to her. He stood in front of her drawer, a pair of her panties in his hands. "Oh, welcome home, Rei" he smiled and waved to her with the hand that had the panties on it.

"Geez! Why do you always do this?!" she seethed, her cheeks puffed up as she snatched her panties away from him.

"Aw, c'mon, Rei… You don't really mind do you…?" Shinji smirked as he moved smoothly to her side, and then behind her. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest.

"A-ah! Onii-san…"

"What's wrong, Rei…? Is something the matter?" Shinji's smirk only widened as he moved down and nibbled on her neck.

"Nnng… Onii-san…"

"Yes, Rei?" Shinji slid his hand up her stomach and grabbed the ribbon on the front of her uniform. He tugged at it and chuckled softly as it came undone. He pulled the sleeves of her dress down off to the side and started to unbutton the dress shirt she was wearing.

"Mmm… Onii-saaaaaaan…" Rei whined, her hand sliding up his back as he undid the last button.

"Rei… You know I love you…"

--

Hikari's mouth hung open slightly. She put the book down and took a step back. She was afraid to go any further in it than she already had. She stumbled as she moved away from it when the door opened.

"Alright! Let's-" Rei stopped suddenly. She stared at Hikari, as if she was scanning her. It made Hikari nervous. "You… You read my book!" Rei stabbed a finger at her.

"No I didn't! I didn't read anything about Shinji!"

"Hah! If you didn't read it, then how do you know it's about Onii-san?" Rei grinned triumphantly.

"I…. Damn!" Hikari sighed as she realized her mistake.

"Gotcha!" Rei giggled as she picked her book back up and slid it back into her bag. She stretched out and grabbed her stuff. "Well, let's go see the others"

"W-what do you mean?" Hikari stared at her awkwardly. "You're just playing that off like it's nothing?" she referred to the book.

Reis tuck her tongue out "I'm a normal, teenage girl. I have a right. It's normal, isn't it?" she shrugged and grabbed Hikari by the wrist. "Let's go!"

"U-uh, alright…" Hikari didn't know how to handle this situation. Should she tell Shinji that Rei had feelings for him? Or did she? Was she just writing this book for fun? Did she actually feel anything serious towards, or was it just teenage lust? She shook her head. She'd think about it later.

--

"…sato. Misato!" Ritsuko shook her friend by the shoulder.

"Huh? What?" Misato shook her head, looking around. She was still holding her cup of coffee with both hands. It was cold now, though.

"Are you okay? I called you several times but you just kept staring out the window" Ritsuko looked concerned. She sat down with her long time friend.

"Yeah. I-I'm fine. I just… I keep thinking about my dad. I don't know why I'm thinking about him now, but I just am" Misato groaned and set her cup down. She took a deep breath and stretched. "It's annoying really. It's keeping me from working. I gotta snap out of it, eh?" she smiled and nodded.

"Misato, do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine! Really!" Misato smiled again "I'll see you later!"

--

"… and then it was silent…" Kensuke finished off his story.

"Wow…" Shinji scratched his head as the three sat in complete silence.

"I know man…" Touji added in "It really makes you-"

"Onii-san!" Rei jumped on Shinji from behind and hugged him.

"Ah! Rei!" Shinji almost fell backwards as she hugged him.

"Touji!" Hikari snapped "You're slouching again! Sit straight!"

"Yes sir! I mean- ma'am!" Touji ducked a slap that was directed at him.

"Rei! Stop!" Shinji managed to worm his way out of Rei's death grip of a hug.

Onii-saaaaan! Come back!"

Kensuke watched the two of them and laughed softly.

"You guys are so lucky…" he shook his head as the other dour stopped.

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked him, his question enough to stop her attacks on Touji for a moment.

"You all have someone… I wish I had somebody" Kensuke laughed again as he leaned against the bars and took a bite of a cookie he had bought earlier.

"Hey, man, there's someone out there for everyone!" Touji moved away from Hikari quickly-afraid she would resume her attacks, but also to comfort his friend.

"Yeah… I guess so. It's just… You have Hikari, Shinji has Asuka… AND Rei" he pointed at Rei as he spoke her name.

"Huh?" she looked around her, as if expecting to see somebody.

"You guys are great. You're helpful, cool, and girls like you…"

"Kensuke…" Shinji moved to his friend's side.

"But me… I'm never any help, I'm a nerd, and any girl that liked me would have to be delusional. Or blind. Pick whichever you want"

"That's not true man, you-"

"No, it's fine. I know it's true. I have no interaction with my father, no social life, and I'm pretty much invisible" he shrugged.

"Hey, don't say that" Hikari took a step forward, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"You guys don't have to lie"

"We're not, we-"

"Just look at me guys. No, really. Look at me. Do I really look like someone who everyone is going to remember? Do I really look like someone people will idolize? I'm a hopeless, geeky nerd whose obsession with the military is never ending. I can't hold a conversation with a girl. I don't even have the courage to ask a girl out. I'm hopeless. But eh, I've come to live with that"

The others were silent for a moment. Kensuke looked like he was handling this all very well, but it was obvious that he was being eaten up on the inside. In the end, it was Rei who finally spoke up.

"That's fine. It doesn't mean anything" she shrugged. Everyone turned to look at her. "Do you know what it was like growing up for me? Why not take a look at me? I'm pale. No matter how much I try to tan, it never works out. When I was really little, all of the kids used to make fun of me for my skin. And my eyes? Don't even get me started on that. But none of that really matters. I live my life the way I want to live. I have everyone and everything I need" she leaned against Shinji's back and sighed. "And I like it"

"But how am I supposed to live my life?" Kensuke asked her, confused.

"That" she smiled softly "Is for you to find out on your own"

"Rei…"

There was an awkward silence again as they thought about her words. Everyone seemed to be feeling a little bit better now.

"Onii-san!" Rei jumped on Shinji again, knocking him to the ground as she hugged him.

"Ah! Rei! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?!"

--

"What am I gonna do?" Misato sighed. She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes. She felt exhausted. Although she had managed to get ample sleep before coming in today, she still felt as if her head had never touched the pillow. "It's that damn dream… Why do I keep having it?"

She moved stuff of her desk. Her office was one of the few places she could be alone in the world. The door was shut, so that meant no one was to come in. It was silent as she swept some of the junk and papers off of her desk.

"Father…"

--

"_Daddy!" Misato shouted, her cheeks puffed up as she pulled at her short pigtails "Why are you always working? Play with me!"_

"_Ah, Misato…" her father looked up from his work with a warm smile. He reached out and put an arm around her. She moved with his arm and leaned against him. She sighed and smiled slightly. She liked being close to him. He was so big, and strong, and warm. It made her feel safe. She giggled as she was pulled up off of her feet and into his lap. _

"_Daddy… Do you love work more than me?"_

"_Of course not, Misa…" he smiled again. That warm smile that she always loved as a child. The smile that made her feel better and stronger, even when she was scared or nervous. "You know I love you and your mother more than anything. You're the most important thing in my life" he grinned as he ruffled her hair. Her pigtails were messed up, but she didn't care. She smiled and hugged him around the chest. _

"_I love you, daddy!" she stayed leaning on his chest. She didn't want to leave. Not just yet. She knew his work was important, and that he'd have to get back to it soon, so she wanted this to last._

--

"Dammit!" Misato clenched her eyes shut and threw the papers on her desk to the ground. A Styrofoam cup full of cold coffee fell along with them. She laid her elbows down on her desk and held the sides of her head. "Why, father?! Why did you have to do that to us? Why did you have to leave mom? Why did you have to leave _me_?" she could feel the warm, wet tears sliding down her face. She gripped her hair tighter as the image of her fathers smile crept into her mind.

"I… Father… I…. Waaaaaaah!" Misato dropped from her desk. She cried out loud, bawling as she finally let out everything she had been holding in for years now. "Daddy! Come back! I need you, daddy!" she cried softly now, curled up in a little ball underneath her desk. As if only to further the situation, the automatic lights in the office shut off, plunging it's inhabitant into darkness.

--

Asuka slowly opened her eyes, blinking the blurriness away. She was on the couch in the room, with a blanket around her.

"Mmmm…" she heard a soft groan. She looked down a pale blond haired girl with her.

_Oh, that's right. Enya…_

She smiled softly as she put her arms around the little girl. She made staying in this floating piece of junk bearable. She didn't seem like the other guy, either. She seemed too friendly to even be involved with the man that kidnapped her. Or had her kidnapped, whatever it was.

"Nnn…. No…." she sounded scared. She started to move around a bit, as if trying to push something away. "I don't…. want… no…."

"Enya… what are you dreaming about?" Asuka muttered to herself as she held the little girl closer to herself. Enya sighed and relaxed. It made Asuka smile. She was like the little sister she always wanted. She laid her hand on the back of her head and looked out the window. "I wonder what's happening down there"

--

"Get me some covering fire!" Shinji screamed. He was pressed up against a wall, bullets zinging over his head and explosions hitting not too far from his location.

"I'm trying! I can't move!" Kensuke shouted back. "I can't just leave Touji behind!"

"I can make it on my own…" Touji held his stomach where the pullets had entered. He brought his assault rifle up and fire back.

"Dammit!" Shinji broke into a run and slid into cover. "We need to get out of here, and-Oh…. My… God…" he looked into the face-or rather, barrel-of a tank. He didn't even have time to warn the other two before the _thump _of the tank shell leaving the barrel rang out and the explosion made his world go black.

--

GAME OVER

HIGHSCORE:23,017

"Damn!" Shinji took the goggles off of his head and slumped back into his seat.

"We almost had it! Almost! If only I hadn't gotten shot!" Touji sighed as he dropped his goggles next to him on the couch.

"Hey, be careful with those! These things cost a fortune!" Kensuke picke dup the goggles to see if they were okay.

"Sorry about that" Touji rubbed the back of his head "But you were right, that was pretty intense"

"Yeah, it was great!" Shinji sat up now. The goggles cables led to a small box in front of the TV.

"Well, what do you expect when your dad is in NERV?" he chuckled at his little inside joke. "He gets all of these training programs. It doesn't take much to convert them into video games" Kensuke nodded.

"Man, I wish I was as good with computers as you are… I can't even get the internet to start up some times" Touji sighed and closed his eyes.

"Hey, guys…?" Shinji looked up at them and smiled. "Thanks for this. I know that it's kinda awkward still, after what I did a couple days ago… but thanks for not avoiding me completely"

"Aw, we wouldn't do that. C'mon, man! You're our friend!" Kensuke threw a pillow and hit Shinji in the face with it.

"Yeah, man! You're our friend. We wouldn't just abandon you like that" Touji cracked his neck and leaned back into the comfortable couch.

"I know. I remember when the slightest thing going wrong would send me into a seemingly never ending depression. But now… Now I'm stronger. I won't let that happen anymore. Thanks to you guys. And Rei, and Misato and… Asuka…" Shinji closed his eyes. He missed her terribly. Now that they had Nagisa in custody though… "Wait…"

"What is it?"

"I need to make a call" Shinji pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the private number. Before he could hit the call button, however, the phone went off. "Whoa!" he hit the answer button "Hello?"

"Shinji! You have to get over here now! Misato's in trouble!" he recognized Hyuga's voice. It took a second for the words to make sense.

"What?! I'm on my way!"

--

"Misato, just open the door" Ritsuko pleaded with her friend. She looked through the window. Misato had locked herself in an observation room, She was sitting on the ground with her back turned to the window, completely naked.

"He's not coming back… He won't… Why?" she asked. It seemed as if she was talking to no one in particular.

"Who won't come back?" everyone else was being silent. The only person who had spoken to Misato so far was Ritsuko. Kaji was on his way, as was Shinji.

"My daddy…" Misato brought her knees up to her chest and set her head on her knees. "They took him from me… It's not fair…"

"Misato, what are you talking about?"

"They took him! He's gone now and he's not coming back!"

"Misato, I know how you feel… What happened… it took from us all, but-"

"No! You don't understand! You don't understand at all…"

--

"_Father! Why are you always working?! Come and eat already!" Misato yelled at her father from the doorway._

"_Huh? Ah, yes, yes" her father chuckled and looked away from his papers. He pushed his glasses up his nose and stroked his light mustache as he stood up. His five o' clock shadow was setting in quite a bit due to the fact that he had been so engrossed in his work that he had not been able to shave recently. "Who knew a little girl could make that much noise, eh?" he patted her on the head._

"_I'm not a little girl!" Misato slapped his hand away from her head. "I only came on this stupid expedition because mom made me…"_

"_Ah, c'mon, Misa… you don't really feel that way, do you?"_

"_Yes I do! I hate you! You made mom cry, and you left us!" she crossed her arms and refused to look at him._

"_I guess you're right…" he chuckled softly. "I'm not a family man, I guess. Even if I wanted to be, I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry. And you know I'll always love you, right Misa?"_

"_Whatever. I don't care. Just eat your dinner and get back to work she stabbed a finger towards a bowl of stew and walked away from him. She meant what she said, but at the back of her head, there was a creeping sense of guilt. One that she didn't want to admit was there, even to herself._

--

"Katsuragi" Kaji was panting, having run all the way here. He peered in through the window. "Katsuragi, what's wrong?"

"Huh…? Who's that?" Misato turned her head slowly and looked towards him.

"It's me Ka- It's me Misato" Kaji pressed his hands up to the glass.

"He's gone…"

"Misato, you have to snap out of it" Ritsuko stepped beside Kaji and looked on to her friend.

"You don't understand… what happened…"

"I know the past hurts sometimes, Misato, but it couldn't have been that bad" Hyuga finally spoke up.

"That bad…? That bad?! I spent several years of my life completely mute and unresponsive! The only feelings I had were in my dreams, and the dream was always the same… always the same nightmare! I still have it today! So don't try and think you 'understand'!"

Hyuga looked shocked when he heard her, and his gaze dropped to the ground.

"Misato. I-" Kaji started to say something, but Misato covered her ears.

"No! I don't want it…" Misato hit the lights and kept her ears covered. Ritsuko switched the comms off.

"I don't think she's going to listen to us"

"I'm here!" Shinji stopped, leaning on the wall. He was completely exhausted. He was gulping down as much air as he could. Touji and Kensuke came in behind him. "Let me talk to her!"

"Shinji, I don't think-"

"I can do this! Please, let me talk to her!" he held his chest as he said this.

"Well, it can't make anything worse. Besides, I think Shinji can do it" Kaji nodded slowly. He moved away from the window, pulling Ritsuko with him to keep her out of the way. Shinji walked up to the intercom, catching his breath before pressing the button.

"Misato? It's me. It's Shinji" he said it as gently as he could.

"Huh…? Who is that…?" a sniffle could be heard through the small box.

"It's me Misato. Can I come in?"

"I… I guess" she sniffled again in the middle of her sentence. There was a small ding and the lock light on the side of the door flashed from red to green.

"I'll go in alone. I promise… I'll help her just like she helps me" he stepped forward and the door slid open. He stepped through the door quickly, and the light went back to red. "Misa…? Where are you?" Shinji used the pet name he had adopted for her. Since she called him Shin-chan, he decided it was only fair.

"H-huh? I'm over here" Misato's voice came from an area to his side. His eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, so he could only see her faint outline.

"Hey…" Shinji walked slowly, making sure not to trip, and sat down next to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm….I'm… No I'm not… I'm fucking not…" Misato's head moved back to her knees. Shinji scooted closer and set his hand on her back lightly. It was only then that he realized she wasn't wearing any clothes. His was leaning on her clothes with his other hand. Normally, his mind would have gone into perverted little fantasies, or he would freak out, but not now. She needed help.

"What's wrong, Misa…?"

"Misa…?" Misato muttered, her eyes closing once again.

--

"_Good news! The experiment is tonight, Misa!" her father's strong, warm hand laid on her back once again. She growled and shook it off._

"_I don't care about your stupid experiment! I just want to go home and get away from __**you**__" she seethed._

"_Misa… I know you're angry, but… I'm sorry. I did a lot of things wrong…" he sounded sad for once. In all of her life, he was always optimistic and happy, even when the scientific community and his colleagues made fun of him._

"_Daddy… I mean, Father" she turned around slowly. She saw him smile softly, his eyes wet with tears._

"_I'll try to make this fast so you can get back home and forget about me. So can I have one last hug for good luck?"_

"_I…" Misato didn't know what to think. She was torn. She hated him, but… he was still her father. He needed support, and she was the only one who could do it. She started moving to hug him, but she stopped and turned away from him. "No. I'm sorry, daddy… I can't"_

"_It's okay, Misa… I understand. I'll be sure to make this as fast as I can"_

--

"_Unnn…" Misato was groaning. Her body felt like it was on fire. She could feel something dug into her skin. Her jacket was torn and a hot breeze blew across the bare skin of her side. She was barely conscious. She could feel something underneath her. Something hard. Two somethings, actually._

"_Almost there…" a voice rasped. A familiar voice. She felt her back touch something soft. She strained as hard as she could to open her eyes. Everything was blurry. She knew what she was seeing. That smile… _

"_Misato… I'm sorry…" she felt something being slipped into her hand. She tightened her grip on it._

"_Daddy… I-" then everything was dark and cold. She sighed softly as she blacked out._

--

_The door hissed open, and Misato strained to sit up. The hot air was extremely dry and she was blasted by a gust of it as she sat up. She looked out across the arctic landscape in silence. There was nothing left. Nothing. Her head hurt still, and the air wasn't helping. She gritted her teeth as a spike of pain shot through her head. She looked down at her hand. A note. It was dirty and bloody. She unfolded and set about reading it. It was very sloppy._

_Misa,_

_I'm so sorry about everything I did to your mother, and to you. There is no excuse for what I did. I cannot call myself a real man after that. I was trying to be three things: a scientist, a father, and a husband, when my mind and heart only wanted me to be one. I lost myself in my research and work, and left you and your mother behind. Yet, now that I look back at it, my work and research… I never cared about it. You and your mother. I did it all to not let you guys down. So that you'd see your daddy succeed, and so you could be proud of me. Yet, in doing what I did, I did exactly what I didn't want. There is no way I can apologize. Even if I was alive right now, as you're reading this, there is no way I could make it up to you. I just want you to know that I love you, Misa. I love you so much. More than any theory or work I've ever done. You are all that matters._

--

"Misa…" Shinji put his arms around her as she sobbed. She hadn't even realized that she was sobbing. As her mind turned back to the events of the past, she lost herself in them. She looked up slowly. "I'll always be here for you, Misa… Whenever you need me" Shinji smiled warmly down at her.

"A-ah…" that smile… She knew that smile. She leaned over, falling on Shinji and wrapping her arms around her chest. She pushed her face into his chest and started crying once again.

"Its okay, Misato" Shinji wrapped his arms around her once again and held her tight.

"Because…

The darkness in the room had practically faded in his eyes a family member cried in his arms.

"Because…

He felt it rushing through him. He knew now. He knew there was nothing to be afraid of. Any doubts he had, any insecurities or worries that were on his mind seemed to fade away.

"Because…"

"Because… You are not alone…"


	9. No Said Date

Chapter 9

School sucks! Especially when it takes away from your ability to delve into the world of imagination. When it takes away from your ability to close your eyes, and let the colors of your mind work through your body to paint on the empty canvas that is a page. When it robs you fo your passions, only to replace it with meaningless Chemistry and mathematics. And so on, and so forth. Hey there! If you're just tuning in, here's a recap: Something is happening!

Ahem, now to business. It took quite a while to write this. Longer than I would have wanted ^^; I don't get much time to get on the computer and type as much as I'd like to, as I've said before. I've also been robbed of my time to sit and play my guitar. I guess one of the upsides about it all is that it's finally raining. It's the best time of year. Not to mention the passing of one of the greatest times in the world. No, not Christmas. That hasn't passed. And it pales in comparison to the day I speak of: All Hallow's Eve. *1Otherwise known, simply, as halloween*takes a slow bow*.

I wanted to do a halloween chapter, but I didn't have time to finish this one XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. Until next time. Peace!

The plot thickens! Intruige, thrills, and chills! The bleeps, the sweeps, and the creeps! Oh the horror of it all! Man, I'm sure having fun with this ^w^

Music: "Sending postcards from a plane crash. Wish you were here" Fallout Boy, "Saturday" Fallout boy, "Toxicity" System of a Down, and "Air- Overture No. 3 in D Major"

*1: I said this slowly, before taking my bow ;D

--

"Blood is thicker than water. Thicker than anything, really"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is"

"And that's how we justify this, is it, Ren?"

"Look, Z, I know we have different views on things, but have I ever steered us wrong?"

"I guess not…"

"I know what I'm doing, so don't worry about it, alright?"

"Sure…"

--

"Hmm… let's see… Here it is" Shinji smiled as he stepped off of the elevator onto the correct floor. He started walking down the hall. He didn't like coming here, to NERV's medical floor. Everything always smelled sterilized. It just seemed… unsettling. He stopped when he came to the correct room. He walked through the door as it slid open, and he looked over to the bed. There was the flowing purple hair he remembered.

"Misato? I'm here to visit" he moved over to her bed quietly. He stood next to her, watching her sleep.

"As you can see, she's obviously asleep"

"Huh?" Shinji turned around. He remembered that voice… "Nagisa…"

"Yeah, that's me" Kaworu answered, a slight grin on his face. "She's been sleeping like a baby since last night, when they brought her in here"

"Shut up. You don't have the right to talk about my friends. You shouldn't be worried about that, anyway. You're fit for release now, which means your interrogation is today"

"Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to it" Kaworu chuckled and closed his eyes. Shinji was taken by the sudden urge to punch him again, but he shook his head. He had more important things to do. Besides, if he punched him now, then the interrogation would just be pushed back, and it would take that much longer to find Asuka.

"Whatever. I hope your interrogation is the single most excruciatingly horrible experience in your life. And I mean that in a good way" Shinji turned his back and walked through the door.

--

"So, today's the day, is it?" Fuyutsuki stood by the window as he spoke.

"Yeah… I just want this to be over and for her to be back" Shinji sighed and sat back, the canned soda he had in his hand half gone.

"I know, I know" Fuyutsuki sat down next to him on the bench. "Just remember: Keep a cool head, and be mindful of your surroundings" he patted Shinji on the shoulder and stood. "It looks like you have a visitor…"

"Onii-san!" Shinji waved as Rei ran over to them from the elevator. She smiled and hugged him before handing him a bag. "I made you some sandwiches"

"Thank you Rei" he smiled back at her.

"I'll see you later, then, Shinji" Fuyutsuki nodded to him and walked off down the hall, whistling softly.

"I was wondering where you went" Rei fixed her hair. Shinji noticed it was starting to grow out. It was funny. He was so used to seeing it cropped short that he stopped paying attention to the details.

"Rei, when was your last haircut?"

"About a month ago. Why? Does Onii-san not like my hair?" she pouted.

"Hey… I didn't say that. I was just wondering because I've been so used to you having short hair and… well, you get the idea. It looks good" he nodded and took one of the sandwiches out. He bit into the soft bread. He wasn't sure what kind of meat or seasonings she used, but it tasted delicious. "These are great!"

"He he… I made them just for you, Onii-san" Rei giggled and blushed.

_C-cute…_ Shinji swallowed hard. He shook himself. He had to keep his mind focused on the situation at hand.

"Oh! The others are on their way. They told me to tell you" she nodded, standing up. "Should we go wait for them at the main gate waiting area?"

"Yeah, let's go" Shinji stood up, a smile on his face and his worries forgotten. It looked like it was Rei's turn to inject some life into him.

--

"Where are we headed?" Kaji looked over his shoulder to Fuyutsuki.

"We're going to retrieve Nagisa for interrogation. It's going to start in about an hour. I want to talk to him personally when we start…"

"Misato is in the same room as him, isn't she…?" Kaji looked almost hopeful.

"Yes, she is. Well… What the hell. You go ahead and stay with her. I can take care of Nagisa myself"

"Thank you sir!" Kaji smiled as the door to the room hissed open.

--

"Are you alright now?" Kaji held Misato's hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb.

"Yeah… I think so" she smiled at him and sat up a bit.

"Ah! Be careful!" Kaji stood up from his chair and tried to help her sit up, but she pushed his hand away and giggled.

"You're always so cool and stuff when things are normal, but when something like this happens to me, you become such a worrywart" she yawned as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"I'm worried about you. So what?" he grinned and sat back down.

"Where's Shinji?" she asked, remembering the last couple of moments of the night before.

"Last I heard, he was with Rei" Kaji shrugged.

"So, did I miss anything important while I was out?" she rubbed her head and sighed.

"Yeah. They're going to interrogate that kid today"

"Really? And I'm going to be stuck in here?" Misato frowned. She wanted to be there when he spilled the beans and told them where Asuka was.

"Of course not" Kaji chuckled. "When the doctor told me you were fine, I asked if you could be released. You only have to stay in here for about… ten more minutes, then you're free to go. See?" Kaji reached into his pocket and handed her a small paper with the doctor's signature on it.

"Sweet!" Misato sat up suddenly. She snatched the paper from him and read it over. "Do you know where my clothes are?"

"Right here" Kaji held up a bag. "I had them dry cleaned last night"

"Thanks!" Misato took the bag from him and opened it. She pulled her fresh clothes out and set them on the bed. "You" she looked at Kaji, then pointed at the door. "Out"

"Why? It's not like I haven't seen you naked before" he grinned again, teasing her.

"Out! Now!"

"Alright, alright!"

--

"Brr… It sucks out there!" Kensuke rubbed his arms to warm himself up.

"I know! It just started raining suddenly. What's up with that?" Touji snorted. He was still upset about his now soaked track suit.

"Tsk tsk… I told you guys to come prepared" Hikari stuck her tongue out at the two. She had expected it and planned ahead, warm in her jacket and pants, and completely dry because of her umbrella.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up" Touji sighed. "Yo! Shinji!" he waved as he saw his friend approach.

"Hey, guys!" Shinji smiled and waved back, stopping in front of them.

"Hey, Rei" Hikari smiled, shutting her umbrella and shaking it off a bit.

"Hello!" Rei smiled cheerfully as she once again ran her fingers through her hair to fix it.

"So what's going on again today?" Touji asked, scratching his head.

"The interrogation, remember?" Kensuke said quietly, nudging him.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Touji coughed to cover for himself.

"Yeah. It should be starting any moment now. Let's go" Shinji nodded. He smiled a bit, but it was obvious it was forced. He was conflicted right now. Torn between happiness and anger. He knew that Nagisa wasn't the mastermind, just a pawn, but at this point he would have been happy to see the bastard die. He felt an arm slip into his. He looked over to see Rei.

"Come on, Onii-san! Let's go!" she smiled.

"Alright, Rei" he nodded, looking forward again. "C'mon guys"

--

"Look at this place" Kaworu sighed. He held his digital recorder close to his face. "I'm stuck in a crappy little cell, with nothing to look forward to but an interrogation. They're not going to get much from me. I don't even know anything! Besides grabbing the girl and getting her out of there, I didn't do anything!"

He paced back across the small cell. "Of course, with the evidence they seemed to have gathered, they won't believe that. I don't know how I'm going to get out of this one… Well… maybe I could tell them about… 'those' people" he closed his eyes. "I don't know… I just don't know"

--

"So are we getting started then?" Fuyutsuki looked to Gendo.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I guess" Gendo shook his head, distracted by the now rather wide range of flowers and plants on his desk, a bonsai tree crowning the collection. He set the watering can down and took off his gloves. "I guess that means we should get going then?"

"Ahem… yes, I guess so" Fuyutsuki was scared. This was unlike his friend of many years. Not paying attention to every detail? Plants? A cheery demeanor? Surely this sudden change in personality was the work of some alien force or obscure devil.

"Everyone is probably waiting for us to start. Let's get going then" Gendo put his coat on, leaving it unbuttoned. His hair was messed up, from having slept in, and the clean part of his desk wasn't really clean. It was littered with empty Styrofoam cups that appeared to have had coffee in them at some point.

"You got it…"  
--

"Here he comes" Kensuke adjusted his glasses as Kaworu was walked into the mostly dark room, the only light being a beam of light directed straight down in the center of the room.

"Yeah, I see him" Shinji clenched his fist tight, glaring at Kaworu. Only Rei's soft, cold hand rubbing his shoulder made him relax. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He knew Fuyutsuki was right. He had to keep his cool, and think everything out. He couldn't let himself miss a single detail now. Not when something this important was happening.

"They're starting" Hikari whispered. She wasn't really sure about everything, but Touji had managed to bring her along with his clearance. Someone cleared their throat before speaking.

"Are you Kaworu Nagisa? Ex- special forces member and now mercenary?" that was Fuyutsuki's voice.

"You already know I am, so why ask?" Kaworu shrugged. The shackles around his hands were heavy, and didn't allow him to do much. Plus, they were starting to hurt his arms.

"Just to mess with you, I guess" another voice. That was his fathers. This elected a confused look from some of the spectators, and a couple snickers.

"Ahem… _anyway_" Fuyutsuki continued "did you accept and follow through with a contract to incapacitate and kidnap miss Soryu Asuka Langley?"

"Well, yes… and no"

"What do you mean?" Gendo's voice came back.

"Well, you see, you guys have got me confused. You think I'm some gung-ho gun, who busts into buildings, killing everyone and stuff. I'm not. I'm just one of a group of people. Hell, I was only in the special forces for espionage and peripheral management"

"Peripheral management?"

"Well… it's kind of embarrassing" Kaworu sighed, looking down at his feet.

"What do you mean by peripheral management?"

"I don't want to say…"

"Okay. I would like to point out that we are above the government in many ways, and ask you to remember that we are not above using the death penalty" Fuyutsuki said this calmly.

"O-okay" Kaworu looked up a bit "I… cleaned the guns, cooked the food, and I washed and sewed uniforms when they were ripped"

"Wha…?" there was a silence after that. No one in the audience, nor the two interrogators spoke a word. Then, Gendo came in to break the silence.

"You mean you were their bitch?" he asked. Nobody could hold back at that one. Even Shinji found himself laughing. His father was acting a bit strangely… he'd have to see him after this.

"Well… I wouldn't say their bitch but… nevermind. That pretty much sums it up" Kaworu sighed heavily once again. Now they were just adding insult to injury...

"Yes, well… What part did you play in this operation?" Fuyutsuki asked, getting back to business.

"Well, do you remember when they brought the karaoke machine out? I was the first person to sing-"

"Oh, that was you? You have a good voice" Gendo could be heard sitting up. Once again, small snickers and hushed laughter could be heard.

"Thank you" Kaworu bowed slightly. He was rather proud of his voice. "I always could sing"

"Ahem" Fuyutsuki cleared his throat, getting them back on track. "What happened after that?"

"Well, I passed the mic to one of my friends"

"Ugh, that second guy was god awful" Gendo whispered. It was still rather audible.

"Wasn't he though? He never had the gift of song like I do. Anyway, I moved through the crowd. I already knew she was near the table with the punch. Someone else in the group informed me of her location. I injected her from behind with a syringe of a rather strong sedative. When she collapsed, I caught her, and carried her to the janitorial area. I extracted her from the scene using the ventalation shafts and had to wait in the car while the other guys stayed for drinks"

"Hmmm… I see…" Fuyutsuki scratched his chin. "And where are these others?"

"Well… I hate to betray them, but… Eh, screw it. They'll be in the remains of an old department store in Old Tokyo. You'll know it when you see it" he shrugged. What good had they ever done for him anyway?

"Good, good. Take him back to his cell. We'll reconvene in a bit. We need to get something straight…"

--

"So where are we headed now?" Kaji sighed. He was a bit annoyed that they were making Misato do something already. He was hoping that he'd at least manage to land her a day off. She seemed glad to be back in the fray though.

"Old Tokyo. The region is prone to slight flooding. Of course, we'll be in a department store, so if it does flood, we'll most likely be above the water anyway" she replied, looking around.

"Ah. With this rain, though… You never know" he shrugged. He didn't like coming to the areas of the Old Town. All it did was bring back old memories. And make new ones that were just as bad.

"Why are we here?"

"We're tracking down the rest of Nagisa's crew. We need more information"

"I see… Do you think we're really going to find her this time? We've been sorting through leads, and dealing with Angles for the past couple of weeks, and nothing looks promising…"

"We will… For Shinji, we will…" Misato nodded softly.

"I know… We owe that much to him, at least" Kaji agreed with her. "Here we are" he stopped the car and looked over to it. "Wow… place seems creepy enough with the dark clouds and heavy rain…"

"You can say that again… Well he was right. You _can't_ miss it" Misato shuddered as she looked the place over. The stone was cracked up and down the building, and, much like other areas of Japan, roots and foliage began growing in.

"You know, it's kinda funny how these areas of Japan that we've attempted to forget have more life in them than the areas we populate. Real life, that started through nature. Not through science, like most of the plants we have back home…" Kaji shrugged.

"Wow, I didn't know you thought about things like that. I thought you were more concerned about my rack" Misato started walking with him, climbing over vines and a large stump.

"Well… while your rack _does_ take up a lot of space in my head, I think about stuff like this too, you know" Kaji chuckled and moved a weak branch out of his way.

"Yeah, yeah" Misato laughed as well, pushing him softly. "Well, here we are. Care to take the first couple steps in?"

"That's not what you're really asking. What you're _really_ asking, is 'would you be so kind as to check if there are any deadly traps? Thank you!' and probably not even with the thank you!" Kaji shrugged, walking forward.

"Oh, c'mon! Stop being such a chicken!" Misato stuck her tongue out as she pushed him back and stepped inside before him. "See? No tr-"

"Look out!" Kaji grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. They both fell down in a puddle as a large chunk of concrete swung by, narrowly missing them. Misato just stared forward as the chunk of concrete swung back and slowed to a stop. Kaji cocked an eyebrow at her.

"You were saying…?"

--

"Well, that certainly was a strange first pass at an interrogation" Touji stared up at the ceiling in the cafeteria. He spit out a chewed up toothpick and sat up in his seat.

"You can say that again. You've met my father before. He was acting… very strange" Shinji rubbed the back of his head as he thought about it.

"More than that" Rei added in. She still had her arm hooked in his, and she was leaning on him. He didn't really pay much attention to it.

_Hmm… I don't know… Should I tell him?,_ Hikari sighed as she lowered her head. She didn't know what to do. Should she just let him think it was a sibling relationship? Or should she tell him the truth? She didn't want to say anything if Rei wasn't ready. So she chose, once again, to hold her tongue.

"So what are you going to do?" Kensuke set his burger down. That was the great thing about the NERV cafeteria. They had all sorts of food.

"What do you mean?" Shinji looked over to him, confused.

"About Nagisa. And about finding Asuka?"

"I don't know… I have a bad feeling about something though…"

--

"And now I'm back in this damn cell! I can't believe this crap! And after this, I'm probably just going to go into a different cell. I have nothing to look forward to" Kaworu sighed and slumped into a seat. He flicked his digital recorder off again and closed his eyes.

"How did I get pulled into this…? Where did I go wrong?" he shook his head and leaned forward. He heard someone outside. He saw the light coming through the crack under the door, and the fact that something was blocking it. Someone's feet. The door swung open, and a kid about his age stepped in.

"So what, am I wanted back in the interrogation room again?" he sighed.

"No, not quite… In fact" the door swung closed behind the boy. His long black hair covered his face. The most noticeable thing about him was his pale skin. That is, until his eyes were shown. The dull red glow disturbed Kaworu somewhat. "you won't be needed anywhere for a long time…"

--

"Man! This place sucks! We're soaked, it's cold, this place is huge, and we have no idea where we're going!" Kaji sighed.

"Yeah… They could have at least given us more precise directions" Misato nodded

"Uh oh…"

"What?" Misato looked over at Kaji. He had a grim expression look about his face.

"This doesn't look good…" they watched blood slowly flow down towards them, in the gentle stream that flowed through the sunken and forgotten city.

--

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaworu stood up, clenching his fists.

"You were hired to a do a job. You were useful. Now you are just in the way…" the boy in front of him adjusted the long black coat he was wearing.

"Who the hell are you? And what the hell are you talking about?" Kaworu growled. It was just a front, though. There was a hollow, dull fear in his chest. He had a feeling he knew who was behind this.

"You've outlived your usefulness… Goodbye" the boy moved his arm. Kaworu saw something shiny in his sleeve. It stretched out, singing through the air.

"What the fu-?!"

--

"It's flowing from up here" Kaji whispered back to her. He was crouched down and taking slow steps, his gun drawn and ready.

"Alright. I got your back" she whispered back.

"This room right here. I- Dammit…" he stood up straight and he stopped whispering as he looked into the room.

"What is it?" Misato walked forward. "What… happened here…?"

"I don't know" Kaji sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out. He quickly dialed the number to NERV's secure line. "Sir, I've got some bad news…"

--

"Move! Something set off the alarm to Nagisa's cell!" a security guard ran in front of the rest of the group. Shinji followed closely. He wasn't armed, but thanks to Fuyutsuki, he was confident that he could handle himself in a fight.

"The door… It's still open…" Shinji muttered. The group slowed. The NERV security personnel moved in front of him. He had just barely managed to catch up to the group by himself. They switched the safeties off on their guns and moved forward. One of them reached forward and pushed the door open.

"Shit…" Shinji moved forward. Kaworu laid on the ground, holding his throat. He was making some sick sputtering, chocking noises. A river of blood streamed from his neck.

"Did he cut his own throat?" one of the men behind him asked.

"No… Not… not my own" Kaworu gasped. He hacked and coughed. He pulled a bloody hand away from his throat and pointed to a small black device on the ground. His eyes rose to meet Shinji's. "Rewind… listen… it'll help" he coughed violently and his head dropped. Blood spilled from his now gaping mouth. Shinji bent down, picking the device up.

"A recorder?" he wiped some of the blood off of it. He slipped it into his pocket and took one last look at him. "Goodbye, Kaworu Nagisa"

--

"Every last one of them. Dead. They're throats are slit. Pretty deep, too" Kaji was summing up the situation as Misato looked around for clues.

"Damn… Nagisa just turned up dead, too. Exact same method" Fuyutsuki sighed.

"An assassin? Sent by the clients to get rid of them because they knew too much?" Kaji took a guess.

"Very possible. We don't know enough about all of this. Come back to base. We'll send out a medevac team to pick up the corpses for study"

"Yes sir" Kaji hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. He thanked whatever impulse it was that made him think to get the waterproof feature for his phone.

"We've done all we can here. Let's get going"

"Alright" Misato nodded. She shook her head softly as Kaji turned around. She was so sure she was going to find something to help Shinji. "I'm sorry, Shinji…"

--

"Well? Are you done yet?"

"Not yet. And don't rush me you old geezer!" Ren spat back at the voice, his words laced with venom.

"Ren"

"What?!"

"You've had enough time. Bring her here. We will get the job done"

"Very well…"


	10. Working out the kinks

Chapter 10

DAMN YOU BON JOVI!!! DAMN YOU!!! Your songs get stuck in my head, and then they're hard as hell to learn on guitar x.x

Thanksgiving break coming up means I get to relax for a bit. And that, in turn, means I get to write =D

I took quite a while with this x.x That's because I've had to write two songs, and make a one minute ad jingle for class. Plus I'm job hunting once again.

Anyway, I've had some good times mixed in with the work ^^

I recently got Left 4 Dead on my 360. I've got to say, it's a blast to play. Alone, or with friends, screaming in your ears as they are swarmed with crazy, brain hungry zombie hordes.

I also finally got to finish watching Sweeny Todd for the first time. That man Tim Burton is a genius. Can't wait to see his Alice in Wonderland in 2010 ^w^

That, and the chick who played Mrs. Lovett(Helen Bonham Carter) is hawt ;D

She also played a chick(also hawt ^^) named Marla Singer in Fight Club, an equally epic movie which I suggest everyone see at least once(I've seen it countless times now XP)

Well, to the story!

I've decided to start introducing the people operating backstage. Both the stringpullers, and Ren and his 'family'. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and the next will(hopefully, if I'm not swarmed with other misc. work as I fear I will be)be out soon.

As a closing note, I leave you with the wise words of one Mr. Sweeny Todd(Played by none other than Johnny Depp):

_"There's a hole in the world like a great big pit, and it's filled with people who are full of __**shit**_, _and he vermin of the world inhabit it..."_

Man, that movie is great =D

Here's lookin at you, kid ;D

--

Asuka smiled as she sat on the cold steel ground. The feeling of the old, dull colored metal had become familiar to her now. Not to mention Enya was in her lap, lying against her chest. She was like the little sister she had always wanted.

"Onee-san…?"

"Hmm?" Asuka looked down at her. She had also gotten used to the little girl referring to her as family. It made it a lot easier to ignore the fact that she was being held here against her will with no clear way to get back.

"Will you sing to me again? Until I fall asleep?" Enya yawned, her mouth stretching wide as she nuzzled against Asuka's chest. She cooed and sighed as she got comfortable.

"Sure…"

"What are you going to sing?"

"An old song my mother used to sing to me, before she… died"

"Really? Is it nice?"

"I think so"

"Yay!" Enya smiled softly and shifted a bit.

Asuka began humming slowly at first, but then opened her mouth and actually began singing.

"_Fly me to the moon, and let me play amongst the stars…"_

--

"… _let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars…"_ Shinji sighed as he slowly sat up. The song was stuck in his head. He remembered it well. When he used to sneak out into the living room at night when he heard her leave her room as well. He'd hide behind the couch while she sat on the balcony, under the stars, and he'd listen to her sing. Much like how she'd sneak out and listen to him play his cello. Of course, each of them caught the other eventually.

It was strange being alone, in complete silence. Misato was still on base, and Rei was in his room, squeezing a Shinji decoy pillow, cooing "Onii-san…" in her sleep. In the past, there was always some sort of life at night. Even Pen-Pen made himself scarce. As if hearing his thoughts, the penguin made some noise from inside his refrigerator.

"Wark!" it made Shinji smile. It made him think back to the days before all of this. Sure, he was a bit more introverted back then, but back then, besides the chance of death at the hands of an Angel, it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

"What is all of this? What's going on, Asuka? Am I looking for you, or is it me who's really lost…?"

--

Asuka opened her eyes and looked around in the dark.

"Mm… Must have dozed off…" she shook her head. It was completely silent, save for Enya's soft snoring. Asuka could feel her soft breath on her neck. She started to stretch, trying to move as little as possible as not to wake Enya up. As the ground began to shake, she yelped loudly. It was like before: the entire station seemed to be shaking.

"Onii-san!" Enya jumped up excitedly, running across the room and standing in front of a door. Asuka had tried to get that door open many times in the past couple of days, but it never worked. For Enya, however, the steel doors hissed and parted.

"Wait! Enya, be careful!" Asuka stood up and chased after her. The hallway was the same cold steel as the room, yet it felt unnatural to her at the same time. She stopped when she saw Enya again. She was hugging someone around the waist. Asuka couldn't see his face. He was wearing a long, black, silky jacket. His hood shielded his face. She didn't need to hear his voice to know who he was.

"You!"

"Me" he chuckled slowly as he patted Enya on the head. "Did you miss me?" he moved his head to the side slightly, and Asuka caught a glimpse of some brown hair.

"Miss you? Hell no!" she growled. Her older sister mentality from earlier was gone, once again replaced by her normal feisty personality.

"Aw… That hurts, Asuka…" he laughed again. "We don't have time for this, though. Time to _sleep_, sweetheart…"

"Wha…?" Asuka tried to ask a question, but she suddenly felt very tired. She teetered in place and fell back, the cold steel walls and floor blending together into one grey blanket that went over her world before her eyes shut.

"Well, better get moving"

--

Shinji had his head down on the table. It was still completely silent. He sighed and he let his hand fall from the table into his lap. His eyes opened quickly when he felt the small bump in his pocket. He sat up and reached for it. He pulled out Kaworu's small recorder. There was a bit of dried blood on it, but he didn't care. He flipped the small plastic cover on the controls away and looked it over.

"Hmm…" he pressed the rewind button, holding it down until it reached the start. He set it down on the table and pressed play.

--

"_Phew! That was close. Almost got caught. The guys still don't know that I'm swiping money from the stash. I don't want to be stuck cleaning up after these assholes for the rest of my life. Hell no. I'm gonna go solo. Get out of the mercenary business. I might have to do a job or two to get some more cash, but after that I'm going to settle down and have as quiet as a life as my past will permit. Shit! They're back…"_

**NEXT RECORDING**

"_Man, going into town is much better than staying in this dump. I get to spend some of my share, get myself something nice, and pick up chicks. But here… it's always wet, cold, and I have to put up with them. Oh well, there is some good news. Today, we got a contract for a pretty hefty amount of cash. If it's not complete bullshit, then of course they're going to accept it. I don't know though… Everything about this job seems shady. I mean, c'mon! The person who left the job contract didn't even tell us his name!"_

_There was a brief shuffling._

"_And if this job is legit, then this person must be really obsessed with this girl. I mean, who pays that much just to nab a girl? Sure, she's beautiful, I'll admit that. But still, it doesn't seem like this job could be real. Of course, when they get back and see the price, they're going to accept right away" Kaworu sighed "So I guess that means absolutely dick"_

**NEXT RECORDING**

"_Do you have the girl?" this voice wasn't Kaworu's. It was deeper._

"_Of course. You got the cash?" another unfamiliar voice. This one sound cocky and amused._

"_Yes" a click was heard, and then another, and a collective gasp moved through the room._

"_Ooo… A briefcase. Classy" the amused voice from before was now filled with glee. _

"_The girl" another voice was heard now._

"_Of course, of course. Guys! Bring her out!"_

"_Don't you fucking touch me! I'll kick your pale skinny ass you piece of shit!" Asuka's voice could be clearly heard now._

"_So hard to deal with… give her another shot of the stuff, Kaworu"_

"_What? Hey! Get that fucking syringe away from me! I'll kill you!" sounds of struggle could be heard, then Asuka yelped, and it got quiet._

"_Thank you. She's quite light. Pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen"_

"_Likewise, of course" Kaworu's voice was heard now. The door shut, and all the men sighed._

"_Look at this cash! Man, we could live off of this for the rest of our lives!"_

"_Yeah!" other voices were heard in the background._

"_Huh?" Kaworu sounded surprised. "When did this turn on?" there was a sound of rustling, then a beep._

**NEXT RECORDING**

"_Heh, they never saw it coming. When they went to sleep, I swiped half the cash. I was wrong. I can settle down right away with this. You know, buy my own place, get some crap, and live a normal life. Screw the past. Of course I'm gonna have to hide out for a while so that they don't find me. I've got most of our security leftovers. Just the standard stuff: Tripwires, motion sensors, a proximity alarm, a satchel charge, and a gun. Things are finally looking up! Those guys that were here though… I know I recognize one of them… Oh well, I gotta get the hell out of here"_

**NEXT RECORDING**

"_I know. I remember who that guy was now. Jin Shinogama, Head of Seventh Section denied-ops and intelligence. I remember meeting him on the first day of my assignment to the D-ops sector. What did he want with that girl though? Was she a hostage to negotiate with? I don't know. It doesn't matter. I feel bad, knowing that I handed her over to that weird bastard, but I can't worry about that now. I've come too far to have regrets now…"_

--

Shinji sat up quickly. The rest of Kaworu's recordings were taken after his capture, so he wasn't interested in them. He grabbed his jacket off of the back of a couch and ran over towards the door. He quickly stepped into his shoes, pulling the part that got tucked in with his foot up and out.

"Onii-san…?" Rei's sleepy voice made him turn around.

"Gah! Rei, put some clothes on!" Shinji covered his eyes as he turned to see her in one of his white collared shirts that was unbuttoned. It seemed she liked to wear his shirts without a bra.

"Are you going somewhere, Onii-san?" she rubbed her eyes and yawned a bit. It was still dark outside, and the rain was coming down in sheets.

"Yes. I have to get to base. I found something out and I need to tell Misato and my father"

"Hold on! I'll come too!" Rei suddenly seemed full of energy. She skipped off back to Shinji's room, and within seconds, was fully dressed in some Shinji's clothes. "Hmm? What's this?" she stopped, seeing the small recorder on the table. She grabbed it and slipped it into one of her pants pockets. "Okay, I'm ready Onii-san!"

"Then let's go!"

--

"Sure is dull around here" Kaji sighed. He was discouraged. Of course, he wouldn't admit that. They were so close…

"We'll find something! I know we will" Misato nodded, tapping at the keys of her computer furiously. She gritted her teeth in frustration. She was about ready to break the small, expensive computer in front of her. She couldn't believe how the situation had turned upside down so quickly.

"Kaji, Misato!" a small voice called from the wall. Kaji pushed his chair back, letting it roll towards the wall, and stopped it with his foot. He stood up and hit the reply button on the intercom. "Yes?"

"It's Hyuuga. Come down to the control room. The Commander is holding a meeting. He said to hurry"

"You got it" Misato sighed, standing up and closing the computer. "I wonder what he wants to talk about"

"Only one way to find out"

--

Shinji panted as he stood up straight once again. He could hear Rei's tired breathing, which was still soft somehow. They were both soaked and cold, but they were glad they were finally in the elevator down to base.

"Onii-san?"

"Yeah?"

"What is it exactly that you found out?" Rei cocked her head to the side.

"A name. A new lead. I think this one might go somewhere" Shinji nodded, as if to assure himself he was right. It had to lead somewhere. It had to.

"Oh" Rei wrung her hair out quickly and flipped it back behind her head. "Are you excited?" she moved forward and clung to one of his arms, shivering slightly. Shinji moved closer to make sure she was getting some of his warmth.

"Yeah… I'm just glad I managed to find a lead again so soon. And thanks to that Nagisa guy, too…" Shinji felt kind of bad now. About how he spoke to Kaworu, and he still felt bad about how he beat him on that night. He shook his head quickly. No time to worry about that right now. There was a small ring as the elevator doors opened. They both stepped out quickly. The halls were empty for some reason. They were usually bustling with life.

"Where is everyone?" Shinji wondered aloud, looking left and right.

"I don't know…" Rei said quietly, also looking around. "This place is strange when it's empty… It feels… Bad…" she shivered again, moving closer to Shinji. This time, however, he shivering and movement had nothing to do with the cold. The empty halls generated a bad atmosphere.

"I know what you mean… C'mon, let's go to the command room. Maybe there will be some people there"

"Okay!" Rei moved quickly alongside him. Being around people again sounded nice and she didn't want to be in the cold, dead, empty halls anymore.

--

"Everyone!" Gendo stood up slowly, holding his hands up. As he did this, everyone quieted down. "This latest turn of events is… disturbing to say the least. I haven't been able to go back to my office to water my plants, or to see my son directly. Anyway, things are starting to get really dangerous. Everything that has happened in the last few days has shown us that not only do we have to worry about the Angels, but now we have to worry about humans" he took a breath.

"Ever since the beginning of written history, man has fought. Whether it was against animals, nature, or one another. We are no strangers to fighting. This new generation has known nothing but fear. While we all try to lead normal lives, we all know that there is a chance something bad could happen at any moment. People up there are always ready to evacuate at a seconds notice. So far, all evacuations have been caused by Angels, but now we know that they are not the only threat. The enemies of humans… are humans. Plain and simple"

"We have to expand our search. We need to track down the Second Child, and fast. Who knows what her captors are using her for. The only thing we can be sure of, is that it's not good. We-" Gendo was interrupted by the doors sliding open.

"Father!" Shinji stepped in, his clothes still wet, with Rei following close behind.

"Ah, son! You got here at the perfect moment!"

"I have a new lead!" he stood up straighter.

"A new lead?"

"Yes, a name! It was… Wait…" Shinji felt around, patting his pockets down. "Shit! I forgot it!"

"Hmm? You mean this, Onii-san?" Rei reached into her pocket and held up the small, black, egg shaped recorder.

"Yes! Good job, Rei!" Shinji smiled and patted her on the head.

"Thank you, Onii-san" Rei smiled big, then stepped back. She knew he was in the middle of something important.

"Alright, let me rewind, and…"

--

Asuka groaned as she rolled over slowly. Her head felt like someone was inside of it, doing a tap dance on her brain. She sat up and opened her eyes. It was dark and she could just barely see. A blue light lit up the area around her. She jumped slightly when she saw the ground move. Then she realized it was a design on the ground. She watched it. Dull blue lines traveled across the floor, leading off into the darker parts of the room. The light was coming from the designs. A portion of the line would light up bright blue, and the light would travel along the line, moving away. Then it would restart under neath her and continue.

"Great… where am I this time?" she sighed, sitting back and bringing her knees up to her chest.

"You're back. Back on Earth" a deep voice came out of the darkness. She whipped her head around, to find the person who spoke. This turned out to be a bad idea, as the sudden movement made her headache worse.

"Who-who's there?" she called out. She clutched her head in pain and tried to stand up. She fell back down quickly.

"Don't try to stand. It would be best for you if you tried to conserve your energy. Besides, your legs won't be working very well for a while anyway" the person didn't seem too concerned about anything. The voice sounded dull and uninterested.

"Who are you? And where am I now?"

"My name…" she heard some footsteps. Whoever it was, they were walking over to her. She looked up and saw a boy. He didn't look much older than him. His black hair was a bit longer than normal, and covered is face. She could see that his skin was pale, even in the dim light. The one eye she could see glowed an eerie red as he stared down at her "Is Zenith"

"Zenith? That's a strange name…" Asuka replied. He had an imposing atmosphere about him, but he didn't seem to want to hurt her.

"I didn't pick it. The people who… raised me did" he shrugged and sat down next to her. His long black jacket settled in a small pile as he sat.

"That jacket… Are you with that guy?" she recognized it. It was almost the same type of jacket that the boy on the station was wearing.

"Who, Ren? Yeah, I guess I am with him" Zenith nodded. "I don't agree with him on some things, though. He can be pretty stubborn sometimes" he seemed pretty comfortable talking to a complete stranger.

"An asshole is more like it" Asuka growled. Then a thought popped into her head. "Where's Enya?"

"Enya? She's most likely with him. That's where she usually is" he shrugged once more "Unless she's off doing her own little thing like she does sometimes"

"Will she be safe with him?" Asuka was worried about the little girl. She had grown on her, and she wanted to be sure that she wasn't in any danger.

"She'll be fine. He would never harm any of us. He might not seem like it to you, but he's a good person"

"Good person? How?!"

"Because… He knows how we feel, and he takes care of us…" he looked to her. "But then, you wouldn't know what that feels like, would you? No… I sense much pain and confusion in you. And that you've had t fight alone. You throw up barriers…"

"Shut up…"

"You act snobby and overconfident in front of others so they can't see your pain…"

"I said shut up…" Asuka began to tremble slightly. Whether out of anger or out of fear, she didn't know.

"You don't want anyone to know that, on the inside, you're just a broken, lost, lonely little girl…"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed at him, her eyes clenched closed. Tears were at the corners of her eyes. How did he know? How could he see straight into her head like that?

"I see I've upset you… I apologize. I guess I should be going now. If it's okay with you, I'll come by again later, with Enya. Goodbye, Miss Langely" Zenith bowed his head slightly. Asuka didn't look up at him. Instead, her knees were pulled to her chest as she tried not to cry.

"Whatever…" she mumbled. She didn't know what was happening to her. She was normally so self confident and reliant. She would have brushed those claims off and laughed in the persons face. Was it being alone again? Or was it the fact that she didn't know where she was, or what these people wanted? She shook her head softly and sobbed quietly, alone once again, in her dark room.

--

"Sir!" a young man dressed in a medic's uniform stepped up next to Fuyutsuki and saluted.

"Yes? What is it?" he set down a folder he was looking at.

"About the corpses we were ordered to pick up…"

"Yes? What about them?

"Well… they were sort of… not there" the man looked like he didn't really know what to say.

"Not there?"

"No sir. When we got there, they were gone"

"Damn… This just keeps getting more and more complicated… Thank you, son. Go ahead and get your team together. Head back to base and relax"

"Thank you, sir!" he saluted once again and walked off towards the other men. Fuyutsuki climbed onto the NERV VTOL. The strangely shaped aircraft hovered almost silently above the roof. The hatch shut behind him, and the small passenger area was bathed in amber light.

"Now how do I explain this back at base…?"

--

"Hmmm… this is concerning news indeed…" Gendo stroked his chin as he set the recorder down. They had since left the control room. He had called off his little pep rally so he could see the evidence that Shinji had. "Why did you go home with it? Why not just bring it straight here?"

"Well… I forgot I took it. I only remembered it when my hand brushed against it" Shinji admitted, a bit embarrassed.

"Oh well. At least we got the information. This is good… Another lead. Still, the fact that Shinogama has her now is concerning" Gendo shook his head and sighed.

"Why? What's so bad about him?"

"He's… a strange one. Even by our standards. He was chosen as the head of Seventh Section D-ops, or Denied ops. That's the section of the government that handles jobs that we either won't or can't confess to for legal and moral reasons. His specialty was interrogation and mindgames. I remember him back when I first met him" Gendo stood up and watered his plants.

"I see…" Shinji noticed the abundance of flora in the room. It was a bit disturbing to see his father like this.

"Don't worry, son. They don't know we have this information yet. We'll get them this time. We'll save her" Gendo set his watering can down and turned to Shinji "I swear it" then he did something Shinji hadn't seen since he was very young.

He smiled.


	11. Merry Christmas, Shinji Ikari!

Chapter 11 =D

This was meant to be out on the 24 or 25, but my internet went out T~T

This was my Christmas chapter. I decided to do it because I missed Halloween and Thanksgiving, so I caught this one ^^

This chapter is a bt longer, and it's a bit different as well. I changed Maya's age to correspond with part of the story, among other things. I hope you enjoy this one, and Merry(belated) Christmas!

Strange that the Christmas chapter is the longest XD I kinda got into it x.x

Music: "Yule Shoot Your Eye Out" Fallout Boy, "My Own Worst Enemy" Lit, "The Anthem" Good Charolette, and "Let U Go" Ashley Parker Angel(my sis is getting me to try to learn all of these songs and they're getting stuck in my head x.x)

--

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The snow was falling outside in clumps, and the serene silence was shattered with a single dull _**thump**_!

"Dad! What the hell are you doing down there?! It's eleven thirty at night!" Shinji screamed from the open door to his room.

"Don't worry about it, honey. You know your father… always tinkering with some kind of machine" Yui smiled from her room door. "Although…" she reached for something. It turned out to be one of Gendo's spare pipe wrenches "No one… NO ONE DISTURBS MY BEAUTY SLEEP!"

And once again, it was silent. The elder Ikari was very wise, and very educated. Although it doesn't take much education for this particular subject. It is encoded into every man and woman, even the primitive ancestors of humans. It is called a survival instinct. When opted with the choice, most often people will choose _not_ to poke the bear. Although when it came to dealing with the wrath of his spouse, the elder Ikari would surely take a bear any day.

"What is he doing down there, anyway?" Shinji sighed, yawning and stretching.

"Oh, probably just another one of his crazy experiments…" his mother waved it off and closed the door to her room, grateful, at least, for the extra space in the bed not occupied by her husband.

--

"Have to finish it… Have to finish it…" Gendo muttered, a screw and a bolt held in his mouth as he tightened a joint on his latest creation. He grabbed a rag and wiped some grease from his forehead. "Gotta keep it quiet though… Can't finish it if I'm dead" he shuddered as he imagined what his wife would do to him if he woke her again.

"With this… this year I _will_ have my revenge! I will make you pay, Santa… I will make you _pay_…"

--

"Huh…?" Shinji rolled over. He yawned, stretched, and sat up. His alarm was till ringing, so he leaned over and slammed on it until it shut off. "Man… We still have to go to school… on Christmas! This sucks!" he sighed and got dressed. "Rei… you got lucky and got to go off and visit uncle Kaji…"

"Shinji! Hurry up, before you're late to school!" he heard his mother call up to him.

"I'm not going to be late, mom!" he rolled his eyes and walked off to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He took his clothes off, feeling stupid for having put them on when he had to come out for a shower anyway. He quickly showered and got out. Breakfast smelled good today. Knowing his mother, she had probably cooked something good up.

"C'mon! I've got bacon, eggs, and some of my homemade pancakes!" Yui smiled as Shinji came down the stairs and turned into the kitchen.

"Sweet!" Shinji licked his lips. The homemade pancakes were one of the best parts about waking up. "Where's dad?"

"Oh, probably working on something downstairs" Yui shrugged and sighed. "He _better_ not forget about our plans tonight"

"Oh c'mon mom" Shinji said through a mouth full of food"

"Don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Sorry" he swallowed the food, then drank some orange juice to wash it down. "Sure, dad loves working on machines, but he loves you even more. He wouldn't forget about it"

"I guess you're right… We only get this one night to be together the entire time. Every other day we're both too busy"

"Trust me, mom. He'll remember" Shinji nodded and stood up, pushing his empty plate away from himself.

"You always did eat really fast. Where does all that food go?" Yui laughed as her son grabbed his backpack.

"Whatever. I'm headed to school. Love you, mom"

"Love you too!"

--

"Man… Why do mornings always have to be so cold?" Shinji sighed. A voice carried on the wind, making him stop and his head shoot up. He knew that voice. He heard it every morning when he woke up.

"I'm going, mom!" a girl called.

"Alright! You be good today, Asuka! I don't to hear about any fights today, got it?"

"Hey! There was a good reason for that one! She was being a bitch to Hikari!" Asuka called back.

"Yeah, I know" Kyoko laughed. Shinji could see the smile on her face in his head. "You take after me too much. Have a good day at school!"

"Hmmm…" he thought for a second. He knew that any second now she was going to come through the door. He always stopped and waited for her here, which was part of the reason why he barely made it into class half the time. Asuka had changed so much since they were kids. They had been neighbors for years, ever since they were both very young. They're parents knew each other very well, having worked on several projects together.

"Yo, Shinji!"

"Huh? Ow!" Shinji fell over as a backpack smacked him in the face. "What the hell was that for?!" he jumped back up, holding Asuka's backpack in his hand.

"That's what you get when you space out! That, and you're always almost never on time" she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey, so are you!"

"Erk-!"

"And half the time I'm stuck out here waiting for you to get ready! Why do girls always have to take so long?" he threw his hands up in the air.

"Whatever! Stop while you're ahead you idiot!" Asuka snatched her backpack from his hand and started walking.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Now who's making us late?"

"Shut up!"

--

"Made it!" Shinji rasped, taking in big gulps of air. Asuka moved in behind him, also exhausted.

"We made it sooner than usual at least" she groaned, holding her stomach.

"Yeah, yeah…" Shinji slid the door open and stumbled into the classroom. "So what do you think we should-"

"Ah, Asuka! I was wondering when you'd get here"

"Dammit…" Shinji muttered. He knew what was going to happen now.

"Oh. Hello to you, too, Ikari" the pale boy in front of him muttered as he walked forward and slipped his arm in Asuka's.

"Yeah… morning Nagisa" he grumbled.

"Ah-I'll-I'll see you later, Shinji" Asuka turned back and said goodbye to her friend as her boyfriend pulled her away from him. He simply nodded. When they were a reasonable distance away, he sighed and slumped in his chair.

"What's wrong, my good sir?" Touji clapped him on his back "Girl troubles again?"

"Tsk tsk, such a shame" Kensuke joined in. Shinji slowly sat up and glared at both of them.

"This coming from the guy who can't get a date" he looked to Kensuke"

"Hey! Well…"

"…And the guy who's too scared to ask his girl out"

"Ah, shut up!" the two of his friends turned away from him, then turned back, laughing. Shinji laughed with them. They collectively sighed and leaned back in their chairs.

"Man… This is supposed to be the 'season of giving', isn't it?" Kensuke asked wearily.

"With our luck, it's more like the 'season of not giving a shit'" Touji nodded slowly.

"Can we ever catch a break?" Shinji sighed, and then shook his head. "Hey, c'mon guys. We can't let this get us down. This year… This year will be different!" he stood up, putting a foot on his chair, looking more like a commander, crossing the ocean on a boat and ready to take his troops into battle than a middle school student.

"What do you mean?" Kensuke adjusted his glasses and sat up. Touji sat up straight too, interested in what he meant.

"I'm tired of this crap! I swear… This year I'm going to get Asuka! Screw bad luck, the lucky guys, and all that other bullshit. This is our time!"

"Yeah… Yeah!" Kensuke stood up, a fist clenched, and a resolute set about his face.

"You got it. This year is going to end with a bang!" Touji nodded, crossing his arms over his chest and nodded.

"Hands in the center. This year, we make a vow. A vow that this year isn't going to end like the rest. This year… We play for keeps!"

--

"That's what I said, but…" Shinji sighed and his head drooped as he stood in the cafeteria. Kensuke and Touji were out on their own, seeing about keeping up their end of the vow. He shook his head and clenched a fist. "I gotta be cool about this. Alright, let's go!"

He took slow, precise steps towards his goal: Asuka. Next to her stood Kaworu, and his gang of friends. A nagging voice in the back of his head made him pause for a second.

_Why would she go out with you? She's been your friend since you two were kids, sure. But that just means she knows how much a loser you are! Heh. She probably prefers men like Kaworu: Smart, cool, and rich. His father is the head of a major corporation. Your dad is mechanic! Sure, he also owns a corporation, but who cares? He's just so much better than you!_

Shinji silenced the voice. If you imagined his own resolution as one Shinji, and the self-doubt in his voice as another, then the resolute Shinji would be wailing on his less fortunate and influencing counterpart.

"… And then he tried to-" Kaworu was in the middle of a story. Shinji cleared his throat and interrupted him. Kaworu and his little gang of friends turned to look at him. Asuka stood on her tippy toes and saw him over Kaworu's shoulder. She smiled and waved. He smiled back, then turned his gaze again to Kaworu. "What do _you_ want, Ikari?"

"I want to borrow Asuka" he was punctual and to the point. Asuka smiled and started to step forward, but Kaworu's next comment cut her off.

"Sorry. We're kind of busy right now. You know, being together. That's what couples do. Oh wait… You wouldn't know about that, would you?" Kaworu laughed with his friends. Shinji growled, ignoring the fact that all the eyes in the building-even some outside-were turned on the two of them.

"You know… The funny thing is: If you're a couple, how come she hasn't really told you anything about herself?" Shinji replied coolly. Asuka had talked to him about what she had and hadn't told Kaworu.

"Urk" Kaworu didn't look as calm as he was before. "Watch your mouth, Ikari, before I knock your teeth out"

"I'd like to see you try" Shinji laughed. He kept a cool head as Kaworu let anger take over.

"I'll do more than try" he growled in response.

"I'll tell you what… I'll fight you right here, right now. If I win, I get to take the beautiful lady behind you" he pointed to Asuka, who seemed a bit surprised at how he was acting "To a dinner tonight"

There were some 'Awwww….'s by the girls who were watching, who thought Shinji's idea was romantic.

"Sure, and if I win, then you have to stop hanging out with her" Kaworu seemed to be calming down. In actuality, he considered Shinji one of the biggest threats to his life. He was a bit closer to Asuka than he would have liked.

"Deal… Ready?" Shinji steeled himself, planting his feet and bringing his hands up, ready to fight.

"Absolutely" Kaworu narrowed his eyes, cracking his knuckles and preparing for the fight.

"Then let's go!"

--

"Ow, ow, ow!" Shinji winced as the alcohol soaked cotton swab was wiped across his cheek.

"Oh stop complaining" Asuka sighed, setting the tweezers she held the swab with on the counter.

"I can't help it if it burns" Shinji shrugged, rubbing his cheek. It had been bleeding a bit earlier, and there were some bruises on his face.

"Well you wouldn't have those bruises if you two weren't so stupid!" Asuka sighed explosively, turning on him.

"Yeah, but" Shinji smiled and moved forward, taking her hands softly "I wouldn't have a date with you tonight either"

"A-ah…" Asuka turned his face away from him to hide the blush on her face.

"And besides, I think rich boy has more to worry about than me anyway" Shinji chuckled as he remembered Kaworu. His friends had to help him up off of the ground and carry him away. He said something about 'getting you back for this, Ikari'.

"Why did you want to go on a date tonight, anyway?" Asuka asked quietly, still not turning her head to face him.

"Why? Because…" Shinji swallowed. He was still unsure about this part. He knew what he wanted to say. What he _had_ to say. Unfortunately, his vocal chords chose this moment to mutiny. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a technical failure" he muttered, grinning softly.

"What?" Asuka turned to look at him now. Their eyes met. She stared at him, her rich, full blue eyes seeming to stare through him and straight into his soul. He felt he could get lost in those eyes. He shook himself and cleared his throat.

_Look here, body. We've had a lot of disagreements. Be it getting sick when I need to be at school, being exhausted, and puberty. Yeah, I remember that! Don't think I'm going to forget it, either. You've failed me before, but not now! I won't let you fail me!_

"Because…" he took a deep breath. "Because I lo-"

"Shinji!" Kensuke barged in though the nurses office door.

"Whoa!" Shinji jumped to the side, Asuka following him. They both looked over to an fatigued Kensuke.

"What is it?" Shinji was a bit ticked off. His friend interrupted him in the middle of something very important.

_It was on the tip of my tongue! I almost had it…_

"Touji! He's about to… you know…" Kensuke winked at him.

"Oh" Shinji understood what he meant. Touji had finally gotten the balls to ask Hikari out. It looked like his friends really were keeping their end of the vow. That made him feel a bit more confident.

"Yeah! I hate to interrupt"

"Too late" Asuka sighed. She had more or less an idea of what he was going to say. Thinking about it made her head spin. Was he really going to say it?

"We need to get over there and support him, man!" Kensuke clenched a fist.

"You're right… Asuka, I have to go for a bit. I'll catch up with you later. I promise" Shinji nodded and squeezed her hand gently before running through the door and down the hall with Kensuke.

"Ah! Shinji, wa- He's gone…" Asuka sighed again. Was he really going to…?

"Asuka! What are you doing here?" she looked over and saw Hikari.

"Hikari? What are you doing here?"

"I heard Ikari got in a fight with Nagisa, and that you and he came here to the nurses office. Oh, those two… they're so stupid" Hikari sighed.

"You got that right…"

"So, did you tell him?" Hikari teased her friend, nudging her with her elbow.

"T-Tell who what?" Asuka stuttered, suddenly red again.

"Ha! You were too scared again, weren't you?" her friend accused all too knowingly.

"Shut up! I don't see you talking to that idiot Touji" Asuka stuck her tongue out.

"T-That's because it's a hard thing to talk about!" Hikari shot back.

"Damn straight" Asuka huffed. She sighed and leaned against the wall. "Why does it always have to be so hard to talk about stuff like this?"

"I don't know… We're just… teenagers, I guess?"

--

"Damn!" Touji panted. He leaned against a wall and caught is breath. His two friends stood next to him, also exhausted.

"I can't believe we chased the wrong girl! And it was so hard to catch up to her with all the people in the halls too…." Kensuke took in a deep breath and slid down to take a seat on the floor.

"How are you going to ask her out if you can't even identify her?" Shinji asked, arching a brow at Touji.

"S-Shut up! I just made a mistake is all. I'm gonna find her, and then…. And then I'll get down to business"

--

"Man… there's always so much work… Ms. Akagi never takes a break" Maya sighed, her head down on her desk. She was worried about her old teacher. She was here, working as her assistant, due to their close relationship during her school years here.

"A-Ahem…?"

"Hmm?" Maya picked her head up and looked to the door. Kensuke sighed. He had meant to clear his throat loudly and robustly. Instead, it sounded like he was asking a question.

"Ms. Ibuki?" Kensuke took a step into the room. He could have asked his friends to come along with him, but he decided he wanted to go at it alone. "Do you need any help?"

"Oh, no, that's alright. I wouldn't want to keep you from your lunch period" she smiled softly "Mine is already long gone"

"I don't mind. You've always got so much work. I want to help" he nodded, and took a seat next to her.

"Well… alright" she smiled again. She appreciated the help. She split her pile of papers in half, and handed him an answer key. "It's pretty boring stuff, just warning you"

"That's fine" it was Kensuke's turn to smile. "It's not what you do, it's who you do it with" and with that, he turned his attention to the work at hand.

"Kensuke…" Maya looked at him, now hard at work, with an enthusiasm she could never have. "Thanks…"

--

"Damn! Where's Asuka?" Shinji looked around. She wasn't in the nurse's office anymore. "I thought she'd be here when I got back… Oh well. Just gotta find her" he closed the door to the nurse's office and moved down the hall quickly.

"_Attention!" _a voice blared over the school's PA system _"This is your school principal. I've decided to excuse school early today in lieu of the holiday. Enjoy the rest of your day!"_

There was a deafening cry through the halls. Shinji had to cover his ears as students rushed out of the classrooms and swarmed towards the front of the school.

"Asuka will be headed outside…! I'll catch her and walk her home like I usually do" he ran for the classroom to get his stuff. With any luck, he'd find her there and not need to worry about finding her outside.

--

Shinji sighed. He didn't manage to catch her after all. He dropped his stuff on the floor and plopped down on the couch. He heard some noise coming from the basement, so he decided to go check it out. He saw his father, bolts in his mouth and a wrench in his hand, working on something.

"Hey, dad?"

"Yes? What is it son?" Gendo turned to look at him. He set the wrench down and spat the bolts out onto the metal table in front of him. Shinji noticed something large was covered on the table.

"I have a… date tonight, with someone special"

"Oh ho! Good going, son! Just like your father at that age" Gendo put an arm around his son's shoulder, clapping him on the back.

"Y-Yeah. I was wondering… do you have any tips for me?"

"Tips? Hmmm…" Gendo removed his arm from Shinji's shoulder "Well, don't mess around for starters. I know it can be hard to find the right words, but if this girl is something special to you, then let her know"

"Yeah, that's what I want to do! I just… When it comes time to say it, I know what I want to say but I can't get the words to come out"

"Look, son: When you know the time is right, you plant your feet, take her by the shoulders gently, and you look her right in the eye. You get her full attention, and you give her yours, and you say 'I love you'" Gendo seemed to reminiscing "As I recall, that's how I got your mother" he smiled.

"Really?" Shinji was interested now. That really worked? His parents had gotten married and had him and Rei, and it all started with that? He steeled himself now, clenching a fist and slapping his open palm with it. "Thanks, dad. I'll see you later!"

"Alright. Good luck son!" Gendo smiled and waved up to him. "Man… My boy, growing up so fast… Oh well. Gotta get back to my revenge now" he picked up his wrench and got back to work, the smile never leaving his face.

--

"Mom! Mom!" Asuka called through the house. She had run up to the door after she saw Shinji go inside his house. She dropped her stuff on the floor and closed the door, locking it with all three locks. She was panting, but not all of it was from exhaustion.

"Yes, dear?" Kyoko called back. It sounded like she was in the bathroom. Asuka ran up the stairs and looked around. The lights were off in the hall, but she could see some dim lights coming from the bathroom. She moved over to the bathroom quickly. She could see various scented candles around, along with a steaming cup of herbal tea, and a plethora of different bath salts.

"I need your help" Asuka marveled at how her mother managed to be this womanly, yet still have the family attitude.

"Oh? With what dear?" Kyoko looked over at her. She sighed as the water relaxed her. She always had so much strain on her that she considered these baths necessary. Working for Gendo was hard, seeing as how he acted like he did when they went to high school together. That, and he did all of the mechanical work himself and left the actual running of the company up to his wife and close friends.

"W-Well…" Asuka's face turned slightly red. She looked to the side.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me~" Kyoko sang, teasing her daughter.

"I have a date tonight…"

"Oh, with that Kaworu boy?" she didn't much like the boy her daughter was going out with.

"No… It's a… special date…" Asuka was getting quiet now, and her face was getting redder.

"Was that Kaworu boy not special?"

"Well, I've kinda liked someone else for a long time, but it seemed like he wasn't going to ask me out, and then Kaworu did, and then-" Asuka confused herself.

"I see… So the boy you really liked asked you out finally?"

"Yes!" She was glad that her mother figured it out and pulled her out of the confusion.

"So Shinji finally asked you out then?"

"Yeah, and I- Wait, no!" Asuka cursed herself for getting caught in her mother's trap.

"Aha~! Gotcha!" Kyoko giggled as she watched her daughter's face turn a deep shade of crimson. "And you usually always deny it" she leaned forward and poked her daughters nose. "Alright let's go!" she stood straight up and started to walk out of the bathroom.

"Mom! Could you put on some clothes at least?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah! I forgot!"

--

Shinji checked on what he had cooking. Then he double checked it. When he was satisfied, he ran back up the stairs and into the bathroom. There were some clothes hanging on the shower curtain pole, and some sitting on top of the toilet seat. He looked himself over in the mirror, making sure he looked alright.

"Man… I did not think the rest of this through…" he sighed and winced as he wiped at the bruise he got earlier with alcohol. "Well… I know! I'll just call up the guys, see how they're doing, and if everything went as planned, then I'll invite them over and I can they can come over to the party"

He finished cleaning himself up and grabbed a shirt off of the toilet seat. It was one of his better shirts. He threw the black shirt on, then put a long sleeved white shirt over it. He chose not to button it up, though. He decided his pants were good enough. He moved down the stairs quickly and grabbed the phone. He dialed Kensuke's number and waited as the dial tone rang.

"Hello?" Kensuke sounded uncharacteristically… well, cool.

"Yo, it's Shinji. How did things go?"

"As smooth as smooth can be, my friend"

"That's great! Hold up, I'll get Touji on a conference call" Shinji flicked over and dialed Touji's number. He moved back to the line with Kensuke when Touji picked up.

"Hello?" Touji sounded rushed.

"Yo!" Kensuke was hyper as well, it seemed.

"Hey man, it's us. How'd things go with Hikari?"

"Man…" Touji laughed "Things looked bad at first, but in the end, the job practically did itself. How about you guys?"

"I took care of Asuka" Shinji nodded as he spoke.

"Mine is in the bag!" Kensuke grinned.

"Who did you ask out, man?" Touji asked. He had never asked before.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you that" Shinji had been pondering over it while he was getting ready earlier.

"Oh, just… someone" Kensuke chuckled.

"Oh yeah! This is great. My parents decided to throw a big Christmas party tonight because my Uncle Kaji and Aunt Misato are coming home from overseas with Rei. I'm sure he's invited your parents. I'm making some food for a more… private occasion. You guys want to come over?"

"Sounds good. I was wondering where I'd be able to take Hikari with this miserable amount of money" Touji sighed in relief.

"Hmm… Yeah, that works! I'm sure she was already invited anyway" Kensuke nodded.

"So how'd you guys get your girls anyway?"

"Well, Hikari…" Touji decided to go first.

--

"_Man… cleanup duty sucks…" Touji sighed. He had been assigned to cleanup duty for lunch, but in his rush to find Hikari he forgot. It seemed he forgot more than he should have. If he had taken the time to think, he would have remembered that he had the duty with her in the first place. She had found him in the halls and scolded him. She then proceeded to drag him back here begin their assigned task._

"_You shouldn't complain. It's just something we have to do" Hikari told him as she cleaned the windows._

"_Hey, I'm the one with the mop here" Touji dunked the mop back into the bucket, getting a sick sounding __**thuck**__ for his trouble. _

"_I guess that's true" Hikari giggled softly and finished scrubbing a particularly dirty spot from the glass. She liked having cleaning duty with Touji. Not only did she like him, but he was always polite enough to take the harder jobs instead of letting her do them._

'_C'mon, man…' Touji thought, gulping and standing up rigidly. 'It's now or never… fight or flight... sink or swim' he shook his head. This was it…_

"_Hey, Hikari?"_

"_Huh?" she sounded kind of surprised. He hadn't called her by her name for a couple years now. Since she was usually assigned to the duty of Class Representative, he usually referred to her by her title. _

"_I was wondering… Would you happen to be doing anything, say, later on tonight?" Touji said this very slowly, making sure not to make any mistakes._

"_Suzuhara, are you…?" Hikari couldn't believe her luck. She thought that Touji had no interest in her whatsoever. That, and once again, he was taking the hard job for her._

"_Yeah, I guess I am" Touji rubbed the back of his head. It was funny how he could get into a fight with several people without blinking, but it took every once of his strength and courage to stand here and say what he was saying._

"_O-of course!" Hikari dropped the bottle of cleaning solution she was holding, along with the rag. "Oops" she bent down and picked them back up. "I-I mean, yeah. I'm free tonight"_

"_Great!" Touji smiled. He looked cool on the exterior, but on the inside, he had mixed emotions. There was a party going on in his head, and at the same time, a huge wave of relief spread outwards. The hard part was over now._

--

"Wow, that worked out for you pretty well" Shinji nodded. He checked over the food on the stove. He didn't want to ruin anything. He moved some stuff from the burners to let them cool a bit. He also put the lid on a pot full of sauce for some noodles he was making to let it simmer. "How about you, Kensuke?"

"Well…"

--

"_Wow! All of the work is done before night this time!" Maya looked overjoyed. What had started as a messed up pile of tests, assignments, and reports had turned into a neat and organized arrangement of papers, each and every one was corrected._

"_It went a lot faster than you thought, huh?" Kensuke smiled, stretching his arms. His arms felt like they were going to fall off since he had been working his fastest the entire time. He wasn't going to admit that though._

"_Yeah. Thanks for helping me. I'm sorry it was so boring" Maya rubbed the back of her head._

"_No problem. I'm always glad to help my upperclassmen. Or women in this case" he nodded. Their teacher, Ms. Akagi, liked to use Maya as her assistant. For three periods during the day, Maya was in here helping out, since she had completed most of her classes early. Kensuke knew she was smart, but he could understand how Ms. Akagi's work was slowly killing her._

"_Still, I really want to thank you. I just don't really know how…" Maya frowned as she tried to think of something. She was good at work and academics, but when it came to thinking up plans, she was horrible at it. It was one of the things she disliked about herself._

"_Well… We could go out somewhere tonight. You know, hang out later or something" Kensuke shrugged, pretending to have just thought this plan up. _

"_That sounds cool. I've got nothing to do afterschool, and I usually can't come up with anything that isn't boring" she shrugged and smiled softly._

"_Alright! I'll call you later then" he stood up quickly. Were things actually going right for once? He thought about it for a second. Yes. Yes they were._

"_Sounds good. Here's my number" Maya looked around for something to write on. She couldn't find any paper that wasn't a students, so she reached out and took Kensuke's hand. She quickly wrote down her number on Kensuke's palm and put her pen away. "Don't forget, alright?" _

"_I won't!"_

--

"Wow, you really hit things off with Maya?" Touji asked. He and Shinji were both surprised. They had though he liked her for a while now, but they never thought it was anything serious. She was two years older than he was, after all.

"I told you guys!" Shinji smiled and clenched a fist "Things would be different this year"

"Yeah, I guess you were right" Touji nodded.

"I'll drink to that" Kensuke grinned.

"Yeah. I'm glad I finally got to punch that prick Kaworu. And I got a date with Asuka! Everything is working out this Christmas. All that's left now is the date…" Shinji rubbed his chin as he thought.

"Oh! My parents are out right now, having their Christmas lunch somewhere. My aunt and uncle should be here around seven, and my parents should be back around five. So you guys should get here sometime around six thirty"

"Got it" the two of them replied, almost at the same time.

"I gotta finish cooking this stuff, then I have to go check on Asuka. I'll talk to you guys later"

--

"Mom… Are you sure about this?" Asuka asked, her face red.

"Yeah I am! Sure, it's kinda cold outside, but it looks cute!" Kyoko gave Asuka a thumbs up.

"Yeah, but still…" Asuka felt embarrassed in the dress her mother managed to get her to put on. It was a silky black dress with ties around the neck so her back was exposed. It also had a slit going up the side of the leg. Not to mention it was already kinda short as is.

"You can trust me! I _do_ design clothes after all" Kyoko nodded, looking smug. Along side helping her neighbor and best friend Yui run her husband's business while he worked on everything, she also designed clothes. She designed the jumpsuits that Gendo and the other mechanics and engineers wore.

"I know, but… I don't think black really suits me" Asuka shrugged. She didn't think she'd be able to let Shinji see her in this dress. She didn't feel comfortable with her mom helping her try it on, much less with a guy she liked.

"Ah! I know!" Kyoko smacked her palm with her fist. "I got just the thing…" Kyoko walked off into the hallway. Asuka could hear some rustling as Kyoko sorted through the massive closet she had Gendo and some of the other workers install in her house. She was probably looking for another outfit she designed.

"Oh great… What this time…?" Asuka sighed and waited. She didn't know what to expect, so she decided to expect the worst, but hope for the best.

"Got it!" she heard her mother shout to her. Then a thump. "Ow! Damn door…" her mother began walking to the room. When she finally did walk in, she was holding up another dress. This one, however, caught Asuka's eye.

"Wow…"

"Told you I'd find something" Kyoko handed the dress to her daughter. "Well… Try it on!"

--

"Ow! Damn…" Shinji shook his hand and stuck his index finger in his mouth. He was getting clumsy. "I gotta focus on one thing at a time here" he sighed and looked out the window. There weren't any lights on in Asuka's house. That could mean one of several things. He wished his mom and dad wouldn't have already left for their lunch date. He wanted to ask his dad about some more tips.

"Oh well… I could just wait until he gets back to ask him" he reasoned that he could do fine on his own. The tips were just nice. He also found himself thinking about his sister, Rei. She left with their uncle Kaji and his wife, Misato, a couple months back to see how things were overseas. The two of them worked for his father, and as such helped in running the business. They were going on a business trip to where she had wanted to go, so Rei jumped at the opportunity.

Shinji jumped at a sudden noise. He looked over and saw that the light on the phone indicating a call was flashing. He walked over and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Shinji? Is that you?" somebody asked. It was a mans voice.

"Yeah. Who's asking?"

"Good! I see you still believe in Christmas miracles" the man chuckled.

"Excuse me?" Shinji was confused now.

"Yes. Do you know what you're getting from Santa this year?"

"Uh…" he was about ready to hang up.

"Ho ho ho! You have a lot of spirit. I'm glad to see people out there are still like that!"

"Yeah, sure. I gotta go now, so… Yeah" Shinji hung the phone up and put back on the base. "Always get the calls from the weirdoes…"

--

"Hurry up, Shinji! You have to be at the door to take the coats" Yui was freaking out. She was having a case of the last second panic syndrome.

"Relax mom! I'll take care of it" Shinji sighed and shook his head. Everything was fine. As soon as she got back from her lunch with Gendo-or as Gendo liked to call it, a 'romantic outing'- she went from being mushy and lovey-dovey to her usual supermom state. She started cooking, cleaning, arranging, and, of course, screaming at Shinji like a drill sergeant to get this and that done. A loud crash from the basement made Shinji jump.

"What the hell was that? Dad, are you alright?" he opened the door to the basement and called down the stairs.

"I'm fine! It feels like all of my bones are… yeah, all of my bones are in place! And I don't feel any internal damage!" Gendo called back up. There was some clattering as Gendo stood up.

"Um… okay dad. I gotta do something for mom, so I'll leave you to that"

"Got it, son. You make sure your mom doesn't get too stressed out, alright?"

"Alright dad" Shinji shut the door and started moving towards the stairs. He was still carrying some towels his mother had just finished cleaning. Apparently, she decided it was necessary to wash all of the linens and stock both of the bathrooms up with them. He rolled his eyes as he put them up on the towel racks. He didn't understand women sometimes. Actually, he didn't understand them most of the time. He'd have to ask his Uncle Kaji when he got back. He seemed to be good with the ladies.

"Shinji! Come get the door!" Yui called. He could tell she was still laboring away in the kitchen.

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" he sighed. What was her problem? He could see some figures on the other side of the window next to the door, but they weren't clear. The window was the kind that had artificial fractures and cracks, to make everything look distorted. Why the hell did they make those, anyway? He shrugged and open the door.

"Yo, Shinji! How you been, man?" Shinji looked out to see his Uncle. He was still the same. He had his signature brown ponytail, and was still unshaved-much to Misato's dismay he guessed.

"Uncle Kaji! It's great to see you again. Can I take your coat?" Shinji smiled. Yep, he was still the same alright. He wore a loose tie, and a worn looking suit. It seemed as if the business meeting wasn't the only thing he had been up to overseas.

"Na, I think I'm gonna keep mine on. It's not much of a coat anyway" he shrugged.

"Shin-chan!" he saw a woman walk up next to Kaji and slip her hand in his. She was beautiful, young, and the wife of his uncle. Her flowing purple hair matched the purple and black dress she was wearing.

"Hey Misato. I trust Kaji hasn't been giving you too much grief"

"That, my friend, is an untrustworthy statement" Shini and Misato laughed.

"H-Hey, give me some credit here…" Kaji rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey, where's Re-"

"Onii-san!" there was a blur of blue and the next thing he knew, he was tackled down on the floor and pinned down by someone before being crushed by a giant hug.

"Holy crap! Where did you come from?" Shinji laughed and hugged her back. It was strange how his small, petite, frail looking sister was that strong.

"Onii-san~! I'm back! I missed you" Rei sat up and smiled. She didn't get off of him yet, though, so he was stuck with just propping himself up on his arms. She was dressed in a blue silk shirt with fancy silver designs on it, and a matching pleated skirt.

"I missed you too Rei. How were things overseas?"

"It was good, but nothing can top you, Onii-san" Rei leaned in and planted a small kiss on Shinji's cheek.

"I-I see" Shinji laughed. She had been close to him before, and now it seemed like being away from him for several months only made it worse.

"Shinji! At least invite them in!" his mother yelled at him. But he could hear it. By now, living with her taught him a few things, like the little subtle tone sin her voice that meant different things. Right now, her voice sounded calm and warm. Probably since her brother was home.

"Oh, sorry! C'mon in everyone"

--

"It was crazy out there! The bastards tried to completely take advantage of the fact that the CEO of the company works alongside the mechanics" Kaji sighed and loosened his tie up some more. He leaned his head back in his chair and grabbed his beer off of the table. Everyone was happy and catching each other up on what had happened during the trip.

"Well it's good that you're back now, Kaji" Yui smiled "As I recall, you seem to owe your dearest sister some money…"

"Urk! Uh, y-yeah, sure…" Kaji laughed nervously. Everyone turned at the sound of the basement door opening. Gendo sighed a she walked out, covered in sweat and exhausted. He walked over to the table and grabbed a seat.

"Rei! You're back" he smiled as his daughter left Shinji's side to run up and hug him. "Oof! Getting stronger are we?"

"Of course, daddy" she giggled as he picked her up and set her down on the table. He looked to Kaji. The two of them stared at each other for a second. Then they laughed and slapped each other a high five.

"Been a while, Gendo"

"Sure as hell has!" Gendo grabbed a beer and popped the top of it off "Let's drink!"

As the two of them talked, laughed, and drunk, Misato and Yui were whispering and laughing about something.

"Huh? What's so funny?" Shinji leaned over.

"It's just that… your uncle Kaji and your father used to hate each other" Misato smiled.

"Really?" Shinji didn't understand. Rei, who was sitting on the table next to him, dropped down onto her feet and sat down in Shinji's lap to listen to the story.

"Yeah. You see… My father is a very close friend to him, and he regards me as a kind of daughter. So when he found out that Kaji liked me in high school, he went out of his way to keep him from getting close to me"

"Why? Why didn't he like Kaji?"

"Because… He saw too much of himself in him" Yui nodded.

"What do you mean?" Rei cocked her head to the side as she spoke.

"Look at them… They're both carefree spirits, spending their lives happily doing whatever they want" Misato smiled softly as she watched the men. A ring at the door made Shinji jump up, and Rei hang onto him as he stood.

"Coming!" Shinji held Rei up as he walked. He might as well. He knew she would refuse to move away from him for as long as she could manage. He opened the door to see Hikari and Touji. Touji was dressed in some of his better looking clothes, and Hikari was wearing a fancy looking dress. "Hey guys! Glad you could make it. That dress looks nice. Did you make it yourself Hikari?"

"Yeah. How could you tell?" she smiled at him as he took her coat and then Touji's.

"I don't know… It just seems like it'd have to have been done by your hands if you know what I mean" Shinji shrugged "C'mon in"

"Uh… What is Rei doing clinging to you?" Touji decided to ask. He knew Hikari was curious about it, but he also knew he personality would make her unable to ask. So he did it.

"Ah… She just missed me I guess" he laughed nervously and patted Rei's head. She looked up and smiled at the two.

"Hi!" then she laid her head back on Shinji's shoulder. Although she was as old as he was, she still referred to him as an older brother, and acted accordingly. While it was true she was a bit smaller than him, it was still strange. It was like living out his childhood with her forever.

"Go on in. Make sure to say hi to Kaji and Misato" Shinji smiled.

"Misato is here?" Touji's ears perked up. He remembered that purple haired goddess from the before she left with Kaji and Rei on the trip.

"Yeah, and we're going to go say hi to her" Hikari huffed, grabbing hm by the ear and tugging him along.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"Well, guess we better go ba-" another ring silenced him mid-sentence. He opened the door again and saw Kensuke standing on the porch with Maya. They were both smiling. "Hey guys. C'mon in"

"Thanks" Kensuke let Maya step in first then stepped in after her. They took off their coats and handed them to Shinji.

"Brr… It's cold out there. Could mean snow" Maya shivered a bit as her body adjusted to the new temperature.

"Um… Shinji? What is Re-" Kensuke stopped, not sure if he really wanted to ask that question.

"She missed me while she was gone" he laughed nervously again and patted her head.

"Hi hi!" Rei smiled, then moved back to her former position again.

"It's good to see you back, Rei" Maya smiled. She liked sitting and talking with Rei when she had the chance. Rei nodded and pulled herself closer to her brother.

"Kaji and Misato are in there too. Make sure to say hi"

"Misato is here?" Kensuke grinned. It was strange seeing him in a suit.

"K-Kaji is here?" Maya reddened up a bit. Maya usually wore formal clothes, since she was in her upperclassman years. The dress she was wearing was different though. It was glittery and looked like something out of a fairy tale. It seemed everyone picked up on the formal vibe for this party.

"Yeah. Go on in you two, and grab a seat. We have a few more guests to wait for"

"Alright. See you in there, man!"

--

"Onii-san?"

"Yeah, Rei?" Shinj was sitting next to the door. He was waiting for Asuka to come. He stroked Rei's head as she sat in his lap.

"Am I in the way?" she looked up to him and whispered.

"What?"

"I like being around you all the time, but… Do I get in the way?" she looked him in the eye. She was his sister, and he knew pretty much everything about her. He knew when she was sad or worried, and right now she was definitely worried.

"Of course not…" he hugged her softly "You help me a lot. And I always appreciate your support. Makes me feel like less of an idiot" he smiled at her and ruffled her hair the way he did when they were younger.

"Onii-san… Thank you" she nuzzled her head into his chest and let go of him. "I'll go inside now. You should go and get Asuka. She doesn't know she's supposed to come over yet"

"That's right! Crap!" Shinji stood up with her and opened the door.

"Good luck Onii-san~!"

"Thanks Rei!" he opened the door and stepped out. He stopped after he shut the door. "Wait… How did she know about that?" he shook his head. He didn't have time for that. He ran towards Asuka's house. He stopped again and looked at the sky. Maya was right. Snow… It hadn't snowed for years. The last time he had seen snow, he was walking home from school with Rei in fourth grade.

"Shit! Keep getting sidetracked!" he shook his head and ran up to the door. He rang the door bell and looked in the window, trying to fix his hair. He took a deep breath, and waited.

--

"H-He's here!" Asuka squeaked. She was waiting for her mother to get her dress on.

"I told you he'd come soon!" Kyoko poked out of her room, half dressed, with a big smirk on her face.

"Shut up mom! And put your dress on!" Asuka was panicking now. Was it even Shinji? Did he forget? No, he wouldn't forget, right? Her hands were shaking as she reached for the door knob. She opened it quickly. To her simultaneous relief and horror, Shinji was standing there, a smile on his face.

"Hey" he stepped forward.

"H-Hey" Asuka almost took a step back. It was always so easy to be around him, but not tonight. She couldn't help it. She was almost the exact opposite of her usual self. Instead of being tomboyish and 'crude', she was shy, introverted, and, to be honest, completely terrified.

"There's a party over at my house. A Christmas party my parents are throwing. I know it's kinda lame, but it works, right?" he shrugged.

"Yeah, sure" she laughed nervously. It was feeling a bit better now. "Oh! It's cold out there, come on in" she stepped aside. There was another thing she was embarrassed about. She was doing really sloppy. She was hoping to look elegant in front of him. More like a car crash. She sighed.

"Oh, Shinji! You're here?" Kyoko stepped out again, the top of her dress not on yet.

"A-Ah! Sorry!" Shinji turned around quickly.

"Hmmm? Oops. Sorry, Shinji" Kyoko giggled and pulled the top of her dress up and tied it around her neck.

"Mom, I thought I told you to tie that up!"

"Relax, Asuka" Kyoko patted her on the head. "I'm not going to embarrass the new couple"

"Mom!" Asuka reddened up. Kyoko giggled and slipped her high heeled shoes on.

"It's started snowing out there, so…" Shinji didn't want the two of them to freeze while they were outside. He was a bit embarrassed. He kept staring over at Asuka, but he didn't want her to notice. She looked amazing in her dress. And Kyoko looked great too.

"We'll be fine, it won't be too long before we're inside again" Kyoko nodded.

"Well, if you're ready, then let's go!"

--

"Well, now that everyone is here!" Yui smiled as she stood on top of a chair "We can get everything out. I cooked all day today, so there's plenty to eat"

"Where's Ritsuko? And Fuyutsuki?" Misato looked around.

"Eh, they said they were too busy to make it" Gendo shrugged, taking another drink from his beer. He was feeling very satisfied, now that his… 'project' was done.

"That's too bad, I was really hoping to- Ooh! Are those things those little cream puffs?" Misato was distracted by pastries.

On the other side of the party, Shinji's stuff was on a smaller table. The smaller living room was quieter than the main living room and kitchen.

"Well, help yourselves" Shinji shrugged.

"You made all of this?" Maya, Hikari, and Asuka were all gaping in awe at the food.

"I know you used to cook and stuff, but…. Wow" Asuka looked over at Shinji.

"Eh, I just practiced and got better. Got ahead and grab some stuff. And there's always the rest of the party over there if you want to get some of my mom's stuff. It's way better than mine" he chuckled.

"That's okay" Maya nodded. "It looks delicious!" she grabbed a plate and a fork. She got some of the noodles onto her plate than covered it with the sauce Shinji made earlier.

"Yeah. It looks great man" Kensuke patted him on the back and Touji nodded. Everyone moved about and got their food before sitting down around the room. Shinji got some noodles with sauce and some of the soup he made earlier. Asuka got the same, but she also got some of the bread he made.

"Is this the bread you used to make when we were kids?" she asked as she took a bite.

"Yeah" he smiled "You used to love that stuff. But not at first"

"I remember that" Asuka laughed "When you first made it you messed up a lot, and I used to say that you'd never be a good cook. I guess I was wrong, huh?" she smiled.

"Eh, I'm not that great" Shinji shrugged.

Watchful eyes had their gaze on the younger people attending the party.

"Aw, isn't that cute…? It's like a couple's corner" Yui smiled as she saw her son and his friends with the girls.

"Yeah. Shin-chan sure is growing up" Misato smirked as she slowly tilted her beer up and sipped it.

"Not to mention Asuka… They sure took their time finally getting together, huh?" Kyoko laughed as she watched her daughter and Shinji talk awkwardly.

"Sure did…"

"Hey, Asuka?" Shinji set his fork down and pushed his plate to the side.

"Y-Yeah?" Asuka gulped as she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry I'm such a coward…" he sighed and shook his head.

"What do you mean? You fought Kaworu for me. I've been meaning to break up with him because we just weren't working out and-"

"Yeah, but I meant to ask you out a long time ago too"

"R-Really?"

"Yeah" he smiled softly "But like you say a lot, I'm an idiot"

"That's not true… I've really wanted to ask you out too…" Asuka admitted slowly.

"Well I guess we're both kinda stupid huh?" he laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so" she laughed with him. She almost jumped when he moved his hand closer to hers. "Shinji…" it felt strange holding his hand. Sure, they did it when they were younger, but Rei was always there. And it was never like this…

"Where is Rei, anyway?" she asked. She knew she was back, but she hadn't seen her yet.

"I don't know… Where is she?"

--

Rei sighed. Hefting a large mallet isn't an easy job. She was standing over a now unconscious Kaworu.

"Don't worry, Onii-san… I'll make sure everything goes perfect" she smiled. She wrapped Kaworu in a thermal blanket so he wouldn't freeze, then headed back inside, to slink in the shadows and make sure her brother's evening went great.

--

"I've really liked you, Asuka. For a long time. I was stupid not to ask you out before, and then Kaworu got to you before I did…"

"I waited for you to ask me out, but you never did"

"I know. Now, though… Asuka, will you go out with me?" he looked her in the eye.

"Of course, Shinji" she smiled and laid her hand on top of his.

"C'mon, let's go see how things are going with our parents" Shinji stood up and started walking with Asuka towards the kitchen.

Above them, in a hidden panel in the ceiling, there was glint in Rei's eye and a smirk on her face. She quickly hung a mistletoe down.

"Oh… Mistletoe…" Asuka said, looking up. She clamped a hand over her mouth almost as soon as she said it.

"You're right" Shinji scratched his head "I don't remember that being there…" he shrugged.

"I guess we should…" Asuka breathed.

"Yeah…" Shinji looked over at her and placed his hand on her waist awkwardly.

"Like…" she closed her eyes. She slipped her arms around him and held on tight.

"Oh! Look!" Yui almost dived over her chair.

"What? What?" Misato almost dropped her beer. She kneeled down next to Yui.

"Awww, ain't that cute?" Kyoko smiled and watched them.

"Go for it Onii-san!" Rei watched with her hands over her mouth. She could tell she was blushing. "I'll let her have you for now…"

Shinji and Asuka moved closer to each other slowly and awkwardly. When their lips were about to touch, a thump made them stop. Everyone looked up. Another loud thump from on top of the roof made everyone start paying attention.

"Showtime!" Gendo jumped up and ran down into the basement. Everyone else was left confused.

"AAAAH!" Rei shrieked as the roof panel fell and she landed on Shinji.

"Ah! Rei, where did you come from?" Shinji asked as she sat up.

"Oww… Um… Nowhere!" she grinned, then scampered off.

"Hey! Come back here!" Shinji sighed as he stood up.

"Are you alright?" Asuka asked him. She looked worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Shinji dusted himself off.

"Gotcha this time you bastard!" Gendo shouted as he ran up the stairs. There were some quick consecutive thumps as something rolled down the roof.

"Dad? What the hell are you doing?" Shinji ran after his dad. Everyone quickly followed him.

--

"What the hell is THAT?!" Shinji took a step back. His dad was hefting a large cannon. It had the words EVA-01 on the side.

"Evangelion advance particle acceleration cannon. Unit-01 to be exact" Gendo took a cautious step toward a bag on the ground. It was thrashing around.

"Dad, what the hell is that?" Shinji started walking forward slowly. Everyone else sat back and stayed silent.

"Stay back son, this dangerous!" Gendo bent down and opened the bag.

"Ho ho ho, what's going on here?" a man sat up. He was dressed in red and white, and he was obviously overweight.

"What… the… hell…?" Shinji couldn't believe wha he was seeing.

"I finally got you you jolly fat son of a bitch!" Gendo shouted. He kicked Santa back so he was laying down and shoved the barrel of the cannon into his face.

"What's going on here, son?" Santa asked, unable to really move.

"This is for all of those years ago… Did you think I forgot?!" Gendo growled.

"Dad, what the hell are you doing? Seriously, why are you pointing that thing at Santa Claus?"

"All those years ago… When I first began working on old wrecks and making stuff with what I could get…" Gendo muttered. "When I was seven, I did everything I could the entire year to be a perfect, good boy so I could get the a model NT-007/9834 steel calibrator, and when I wished for it, it never came!"

"That's it? That's why you're seriously about to kill Santa?' Shinji asked. What the hell was going on? This was a joke, right? This wasn't serious… It couldn't be.

"Ho ho, you were too young for that, son!" Santa was starting to squirm on the ground.

"Too young?" Gendo asked, looking confused.

"Yes. I thought you might like the toys I brought instead"

"Well I didn't!" Gendo pushed the canon forward again, starting to hold down the trigger and charge it. It started humming as parts inside of it started spinning.

"Dad, stop it! This is stupid in the first place, but it's even about something from a long time ago. Just get over it!"

"What?" Gendo looked over to Shinji.

"Put that _fucking_ gun down, let Santa stand up, and get back in the house!" Shinji shouted, breathing heavily. He didn't usually blow his top like that, but this was just getting too ridiculous.

"A-Alright…" Gendo let go of the trigger and the humming died down. He slowly slumped back inside with the gun.

"Are you alright, Santa?" Shinji stepped forward and helped the man up.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine" Santa laughed and stood up with Shinji's help "Thank you, Shinji"

"You know my na- well, of course you do. You're Santa Claus. Wait… it was you who called earlier!"

"Sure was. I just wanted to wish you good luck with your romantic encounter, and to give you this…" he handed Shinji a box. He opened it and saw a beautiful necklace. "Give that to her, son. And good luck. Oh, and tell your father to look in his workshop again. I think he'll be surprised"

"Alright"

"I have to go now, everyone. Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" Santa waited as his sled came down quickly, and he quickly got in, and just like that, he flew over the backyard.

--

"Ow… my head…" Kaworu groaned. He sat up, feeling the thermal blanket around him. As the sled flew over his head, he followed it with his eyes. "Holy shit! Santa Claus!"

--

"Well, tonight was definitely strange…" Shinji sighed as he walked Asuka home.

"Yeah… Hey, Shinji?"

"Yeah?" he turned to look at her. He was startled when she pressed her lips against his. After a second, he placed his hands on her waist and kissed her back.

"That was for earlier… But this one" she gave him a quick peck on the lips "is for your Christmas present"

"I couldn't ask for a better one" he smiled.

"Asuka! Come on! It's freezing out here!" Kyoko called.

"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Sure!" Shinji watched her go. Despite the overall weirdness of the night, he felt great. He touched his lips softly as he walked home. Tonight was perfect. He walked in and saw his dad. "That's right…"

--

Gendo slumped down the stairs. He felt bad for almost killing Santa. Shinji told him to check the basement, so he went to go see what was there. He looked up, and his eyes widened. "Holy shit… The scooter I was trying to make when I was a kid! It looks exactly how it should!" he saw a tag on it.

_To: Gendo Ikari_

_From: Santa _


	12. Garuda Team, Time to take off

Wow.... Finally done with this one x.x

Chapter 12 =D

Sorry this one took so long, guys! My little sister was over to visit for the first time in a long time. Needless to say, my time after school and my weekends were completely devoted to her ^^

I took her everywhere, bought her a bunch of stuff, showed her around, played Xbox 360 with her, and a bunch of other stuff. It was great. It's sad that she had to leave though T^T

That, and I'm going to be a bit short on ramen or any other kind of food in the coming days because of all the money I spent on her ^^;

Okay, so I spoil her. So what? She's my baby sister =D

Anyway, that's why it took so long to get this chapter done. I felt like I was going in circles for a bit, and almost considered stopping and rewriting the entire thing, but I decided to stick with it and tough it out. Sorry if this one isn't as good as the other chapters x.x

Music: "Higher" Creed, "Purexed" P.O.S(Check out his new album, Never Better. It's great =D), "Just Dance" Lady Gaga(my music collection has been raped by my sis x.x), and "Califonication" The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

*1: Her nickname. Her full name is Satsuna. Yes, I meant to spell it like that ^^

PS: On another note, I noticed that I'm hitting the same number of chapters as with my LoZ fanfic. In my time here, I've learned a lot, which is obvious if you look at the words per story XD

And yes, I will be continuing it soon, but for now I just need to... search for a bit. Find my inspiration for it again.

--

"Where are you headed now?" a woman asked, watching the man walk towards the door. "Mr. Shinogama?"

"I'm headed down below to check on our latest… acquisition" he replied. He was dressed in a crisp black suit. His red tie matched with the single red streak in his otherwise jet black hair. "Take care of the office for me while I'm gone, Sat-chan*" he smiled a small smile and opened the door.

"Y-Yes sir!"

--

Asuka sat in the darkness, her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes still followed the pulses of energy as they traveled along the ground. She heard a small beep and looked up. "Zen- Who are you?" she stopped when she saw a man. She had expected to see Zenith and Enya.

"I am Jin Shinogama. And you…" he loosened up the cuffs of his shirt "Are Soryu-Asuka Langely"

"I know who I am" she growled, still upset over the fact that her legs couldn't quite hold her up yet.

"Of course, of course. You know… You're just like her" he chuckled, turning away from her.

"Just like who?"

"Like her… Like Kyoko…" he muttered, rubbing his chin.

"My-my mother?" Asuka looked up at him again. Did he know her mother?

"Yes…" he turned back around, kneeling down next to her. "I used to see her everyday, back then. I used to see you too, but you were still a child, so you probably don't remember me"

"Nope, sorry" she turned away from him, refusing to look at him.

"Aw, that hurts" he smirked and grabbed Asuka by the chin, turning her head gently. "Although I must say… your attitude is much more formidable than hers was" he nodded. "You really do look just like her… I thought the reports were exaggerated. Then I saw that picture. But in person, the resemblance is uncanny"

"Nng… How did you know my mother?" Asuka asked. She didn't like this guy, and she didn't want to talk to him, but she was curious as to how he knew her mother.

"Kyoko and I… I worked as an assistant back then, when I was younger. I used to run errands for her all over the place. She was so beautiful… and so are you" he pulled his hand back and stood up.

"Where am I? What is this place?" she was tired of wondering the same thing over and over in her head.

"This place? It's called Northe Pointe. It's a concealed Operation Center, or Op-Cent, for Seventh Section Denied-Ops. If you're looking for a geographical location, though… well, let's just say you're close to home" he chuckled

"We're in Germany?"

"No, no, not your old home. We're in Japan" he chuckled. Might as well tell her. There was no way she was getting out of here. Besides, she looked so much like Kyoko…

"In Japan?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me. I have someplace I need to be" he bowed slightly, then turned and left her, the door to the room she was in sliding shut.

Asuka set her head back on her knees. She was in Japan? Then they could find her! He had said it was concealed…. But it couldn't be any harder to find than a space station, right?

--

"Alright, transfer the data to the screen"

"Data transferring"

"Move some power to Sector 12"

"Boost the search range by twenty kilometers"

"Report in air reconnaissance"

"This is Guardian. Skies are clear. Awfully pretty sunset. You should come up here with me one of these times and enjoy it with me, Maya"

"Very funny, Guardian. You know I'm terrified of those things. How's the search going?" Maya rolled her eyes and giggled as the pilot spoke to her.

"Well, nothing so far. We've-hold on… What's that? We're picking something up on the display. Can you tell us exactly what it is?" he sounded confused. The rustling of his equipment could be heard.

"Hold on… accessing the readouts…. Whoa" Maya's eyes widened slightly as the radar came up on her screen. She could see the small blue blips, nine in total, comprising of Cheshyre squadron, but to the east of their position was a rather large grey blotch. Maya hadn't done much with battle support other than EVA field diagnosis's and readouts, but even she knew the basics of reading NERV's radar. Blue meant friendly, green was support, yellow was civilian, red was enemy, and grey was unidentified.

"So what is it?"

"I-I don't know. Hold on" she stood up and looked up to Fuyutsuki "Sir! We've picked up an unidentified object on radar. Cheshyre squadron is within 15 minutes distance. What should I do?"

"Call all hands to battle stations. It may be an Angel. As for Cheshyre squadron, we need to find out what it is exactly. Tell them to fly in and get a closer look at it"

"Yes sir" Maya sat back down in her chair and picked up her headset again. "Hello, Guardian?"

"Yes? And you know, Maya, you can call me by my name" he added slyly.

"Yeah, sure, Akitoshi" she rolled her eyes again. "The Sub-Commander said to move in and get a closer look at it. Be advised, though, it may be an angel. If it is, get away from it as soon as possible"

"Roger that. I'll see you when I get back, Maya" Akitoshi laughed and switched his comms back to the team frequency.

"That guy…" Maya sighed and leaned back in her chair.

--

"So boss, what's the plan?" Akitoshi's wingman asked. He turned his head and looked over to his plane. While most of the JASDF used the NEV VTOL's, Akitoshi's branch of the military still used jets. They were some of the best designed, integrating both the design of past fighter jets and the VTOL's, along with some original material. They were usually used only in serious conflicts, but today they were on recon duty. They're record for success spoke for itself.

"We're going to fly in closer and see just exactly what the hell that thing is. Be advised, though, the target may be an Angel. If it is, we're bugging out at first notice, got it?"

"Sir!" the answer from all eight of the other members simultaneously.

"Alright, Cheshyre, let's do this!"

--

Shinji sat at home. It was the first time in a while that Misato was at home to stay. She wanted to be on base, helping out, but he and Kaji insisted that she come home and take a break.

"Phew… I wanted to stay and help, but it sure is nice to be home" Misato sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"You work to hard, you know that? You should just be like me" Kaji told her, patting her on the shoulder.

"What, an idiot?"

"Touché, Madame" he chuckled, looking over at Shinji "So how's it feel having her back for a bit?"

"It feels nice" he smiled, looking over at Misato "I was beginning to think of renting your room out to make some extra cash"

"Oh, thanks" Misato laughed "Although, that might not be a bad idea, considering the amount NERV pays…"

"Onii-san! Everyone, dinner is ready" Rei called from the kitchen.

"Alright, we're coming Rei!" Shinji called back to her. He stood up and waited for the other two. "Let's eat"

"I'm for that" Kaji nodded and followed them. He had heard about Rei and Shinji's cooling before. He hadn't gotten a chance to try either of them before, but now he had a chance to try her cooking at least.

"So have there been any updates from on base yet?" Misato looked over at Kaji as she took a seat at the small table in the center of the kitchen.

"Not yet, no. They're working pretty hard, though. I'm sure they'll find something soon" Kaji looked to Shinji "That was some good work finding that recorder"

"Ah it was nothing. I'm just glad I actually managed to help" Shinji smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"It's ready~!" Rei set a big pot down in the middle of the table and began giving out portions of pasta covered in a rich, red sauce. "I made it special for tonight!" she took her seat next to Shinji and got her own food.

"It looks delicious" Kaji grinned as he rubbed his hand together. "Not like the stuff Misato tries to make on base…"

"What was that?" Misato smiled as she started eating her food. It wasn't a normal smile though… It was pure evil. Shinji and Kaji shrunk into their seats a little.

"N-Nothing" Kaji laughed nervously then tried to cover himself by drinking his water.

"That's what I thought" Misato smiled and nodded.

"Scary…" Rei stared at Misato with wide eyes.

"Tell me about it…"

--

"Anything to report?" Akitoshi asked. He looked out the side of his canopy, trying to find whatever the blip on the radar was. He couldn't find anything.

"No, sir" his wingman sighed. "Do you think we're having trouble with equipment again?"

"Maybe… But we should check one more time, just to be sure. You and me will go lower, and the others will stay in high altitude on overwatch. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good" Akitoshi pulled down and his wingman followed. They dove through a cloud, and the light from the setting sun made it's way through as they finally moved through the end of it.

"I don't-wait, I think I see something" his wingman said slowly. He looked to his side and saw the man looking down towards the ground. "Wait, no it's nothi-" there was a flash, and the transmission stopped. Akitoshi shielded his eyes and when he lowered his arm, his wingmate was gone.

"What the hell?"

"Holy shit! Hard left! Hard left!"

"Evade like hell if you want to live!"

"I can't-!"

"What the hell is going on up there?!" Akitoshi looked above him. The rest of his squad was above the cloud cover, but he could distinctly make out the pinpoints of light that were explosions. He flicked coms to full on and looked around, still trying to spot where the fire was coming from.

"This is Guardian! Repeat, this is Guardian! I don't know what the blip on the radar is, but it's hostile! The area is hot, and my squad is under fire! Send support!"

--

"Roger that, Guardian. Sending support right away!" Maya spun around in her chair and looked up to Fuyutsuki. He nodded, and moved down the hall. "Attention!" she grabbed the mic "To any personnel in the hangars, scramble! Cheshyre squadron needs support, and the area is a battleground, so be ready when you get there!"

"Roger that, ma'am" a response came from one of the pilots in the hangars. Maya hoped that what they were sending would at least be enough to help.

"Shit! I don't know what these things are!" Akitoshi's voice was still coming in from the speakers. "Regroup!"

"Yes sir!" a couple voices sounded out. On the display, Maya saw that only a third of Cheshyre squadron were still sending signals back. The others had been shot down, and most likely killed. Maya didn't want to think about that as she tapped at keys.

"Guardian, reinforcements are on the way. There's a safe zone to the west of your position. The automated artillery there will be able to provide some cover for you. How many targets can you see?"

"Too many!" he replied. Maya looked and saw that her radar display was out, replaced by static.

"The radar here is malfunctioning, so I can't confirm how many targets you have. Get to the safe zone as quickly as you can"

"Alright, Maya" Akitoshi nodded.

"Oh, and Akitoshi?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck…"

--

"And then I was going to tell him to-" Misato paused in the middle of her story as her cell phone vibrated. "Hello? Yeah, they're both here. I'm sure we could get the other two quickly. Yes sir. We're on our way"

"What was that all about?" Shinji looked to Misato, knowing all too well what that call meant.

"Sorry guys, we're going to have to cut this short. We're all needed on base. We'll pick up the others on our way there. C'mon, let's go!"

--

"Man, this is lame…" Touji whined, sighing as he slumped back in the seat of Misato's car. "I was just about to get some sleep too" he yawned and stretched.

"C'mon man, this is more important than sleep! We're going to get another chance to fight and save the city!" Kensuke clenched a fist, with a look of determination on his face.

"I was still kinda hoping to relax tonight though…" Shinji sighed. "I haven't really gotten to help much with the search for Asuka either. All I've done recently is hand over the recorder"

"It's okay, Onii-san! I'll make sure we get this over with quickly so you can do what you need to" Rei slipped her arms around him and hugged her against her chest as she sat in her lap.

"Sorry about the tight squeeze. This car is only supposed to seat four people at the least" Misato told them. She and Kaji sat in the front, the windshield wipers working to push the rain away.

"Damn… We keep getting all this rain…" Kaji sighed and looked back to the rest of them. "We should be there in about a minute. Turn here Misato"

"Huh? Why here?" Misato complied and turned, driving into an abandoned gas station. It looked decrepit and ancient.

"Hold on…" Kaji took his NERV card out and leaned out the window. He slid it through a slot on the stations old car wash payment machine. It whirred to life and the car wash started up.

"Wow, this things till has power?" Misato arched a brow as she watched the old machine activate. "Wait, why are we here? We need to get to the base!" she started to pull out of the station, but Kaji stopped her.

"And that's where we're going!" he pointed to the car wash. The ground in it parted to reveal an elevator that looked like it was shaped for vehicle transport. "This is a special emergency elevator. It'll take us straight down"

"Wow, who'da thunk it?" Touji scratched the back of his head.

--

"Shit! I can't see it! I can't-arrrgh!"

"Damn…!" Akotshi growled. He was sick of not being able to see his team or the enemy. Just like Maya had experienced earlier, the radar was shot to hell, being that it only worked at short range. And it was obvious now that the 'cloud' they had flown through was not a natural cloud. He took a sharp dive as something passed over him.

"Sir! We're the only ones left!" he heard one of his squad mates scream.

"I know! The FoF_(Friend or Foe)_ tags are offline. Evade as well as you can and head to the east. Maybe we can get out of this damn cloud and to the safe zone"

"Yes sir!"

"I just hope the safe zone hasn't been hit… Shit!" Akitoshi barrel rolled to dodge whatever it was that the things were firing at him. Whatever they were, they had to be hot. Really hot. Whenever they passed by him, the internal cabin temperature rose by a couple degrees, and he could see the paint on his fighter flaking off.

"Ak…..hi! Help is…" he heard through the radio, before it burped static and died completely. That was the base radio. He hoped that the most obvious implication of the message was the right one, and that meant he would get what men of his that were still alive out of here.

"Sir, I think I see something… It's… It's so beautiful…"

"What are you talking about?" Akitoshi looked over his shoulders, trying to spot his wing mates.

"It's so beautiful… I have to touch it!" there was a wash of static, then laughter. "It's feels so nice… I never want to let go! Wha-what? That's not supposed to happ- AAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

Akitoshi had to move his headset down as the man screamed. It was too loud. Not to mention it was disturbing.

"Oh my go-!" static washed over the channel again, and Akitoshi saw bright flash of light. He noticed his radar was on again. Most of the area was blotted with grey. Of the men he took out there, he was the only one on radar now.

"Dammit… Goddammit!"

--

"Shit, shit, shit" Kensuke quickly fixed his plug suit and ran out of the locker room. He was the first one out. He was trying to move his fastest. Whoever it was that needed help, he was alone, he didn't know what he was fighting, and he was bound to run out of fuel. He had respect for the individual lives of soldiers. Not to mention he was one of Maya's friends.

"Kensuke! Good, you're ready. The entry plug is ready for you" Ritsuko pointed up to the plug. Kensuke nodded, moving up with the small service elevator and slipped into it. The entry plug closed, and he was plunged into darkness. He could feel himself moving, as the plug was slotted into the EVA.

"This is Unit-04. I'm ready for combat!" he waited for the locks to release. He stepped back to his assigned lift.

"Get read for launch!" Misato said through the comms. "3, 2, 1, launch!"

--

Kensuke let out a breath slowly as the lift moved towards the surface at a speed he'd like to not think about. He closed his eyes and took a second to think. He'd have to be on his toes until the others got there. It was reckless of him to go at it alone, and he was sure that if there wasn't such a rush to get everything ready, he would have gotten reprimanded. That is, if EVA pilot could. He opened his eyes again, steeling his nerves as the lift hit the surface, and the final locks were released. He stretched out quickly and surveyed the area.

"This is Unit-04. I don't see anything yet…" he couldn't see anything around him. It was as if the reports from the fighter squad were a lie. The area had been evacuated, and the streets were devoid of any life. It was eerily silent and peaceful.

"Are you sure? Try moving to the east. That's where Guardian is. We can't raise him on the comms, but we can see him on radar. Please Hurry!" Maya sounded really worried.

"Understood" Kensuke nodded and started to move. They weren't kidding when they told him that Unit-04 was designed for agility. He knew the EVA's could move fast, but there was no way they could move as fast as this. He felt like he was running on the wind. Like he was floating. He couldn't even tell Unit-04's feet were hitting the ground.

"Do you see anything yet?" Maya asked. She sounded a bit scared. Had he been hit?

"Nothing ye- Wait! Yes, I see something! In the sky! Dammit!" Kensuke swore as the air suddenly got very thick. He couldn't see a thing. "I can't see a thing in this damn smoke!"

"Kensuke, Units-00, -01, and -04 are on their way!" Misato took the comms for a second.

"Got it, ma'am!" Kensuke started to mess with the pad near his hand, trying to find some way to see through the thick fog, or whatever it was. He looked to his motion tracker in the corner of the display, but it was blank. His eyes widened suddenly as a contact flashed across it. He suddenly felt himself being thrown into the air. He landed in a heap on top of a building. "What the hell?"

"Who is that?" a man's voice came over the comm..

"This is the pilot of EVA Unit-04. Are you Guardian?"

"Sure am! Damn good to hear from you. From what I can tell, you can't see these things on radar until the last second, so be ready to dodge"

"Got it!" Kensuke heard something behind him. Clanging and rustling.

"Kensuke, we're here!" Shinji said over the comms. Kensuke didn't see anything on his motion tracker as his friends came over to him.

"Shit! What's this thick fog?" Touji asked. Kensuke turned to his side and saw the black armor of Unit-03.

"I don't know, but be ready to dodge!" Kensuke told them. Before he could explain, he had to duck. Something flew over him. "Ah!" he cried out as he felt something burn along his back.

"Onii-san! I have an idea!" Rei's voice came over the comm. The air suddenly felt heavy. There was intense suction, then a concussive blast of air that knocked the other three off of their balance. The fog cleared, and they could see each other. The fog around them seemed to be dissipating.

"Good idea, Rei! Guys, bring up your AT fields!" Shinji took a deep breath and concentrated before brought his up. The others braced them selves, but still got knocked back by the strong blast. More air cleared and began to dissipate, and the radar was coming back on line. Hey could see the topography again on their display, and the FoF tags were online again. There were small blips moving around, now marked as red.

"Hey! Whatever you guys did down there, its working! I can see stuff on radar again. Keep doing whatever you're doing. From what I've been able to tell, there's something on the ground that's doing this" Akitoshi told them. "If you manage to get rid of enough of it, look for it and take it out!"

"Got it!" Shinji nodded. "Bring up your AT-Fields! We need to see this thing before we can kill it"

"Gotcha!" Touji nodded, closing his eyes to concentrate.

"Sure. Here goes" Kensuke took a deep breath before he tried.

"There! I see something!" Rei pointed through the dissipating smoke.

"Where, I don't- wait! I see it!" Shinji stared ahead. There was something on a building. It was mostly grey and black, but he could make out some orange and black. When it came into focus, his stomach churned.

"What… the hell is that…?" Touji stared as well, not moving at all.

"Ugh… I think I'm going to be sick…" Kensuke turned away from the thing. It was almost funny. The distorted shape before them was like a parody of a human being. It had the same shape, more or less. It lacked arms and legs, but its body was somewhat structured like a human's. It even had a face, although it looked as if the face was made of a very pliable metal. It's moved in and out with every breath the creature took. It's long, windy, raspy gasps for air sounded disturbing.

"It's in pain…" Rei whispered, looking it over. It's body was the part that looked horribly distorted. It was attached to the side of a building. Whereas a normal torso would be solid and hard, the thing's torso was like liquid, fused with the building. You could see the creatures internal organs working through it's thin, sinewy skin. It's face contorted again as it drew in a long, pained gasp of air.

Shinji stared long and hard at the creature. Every time it took in a breath, it's almost translucent layer of skin would inflate, then sink back down as it breathed out. Tendrils whipped around all over its body, and it looked as if things were trying to force their way though it's body. This turned out to be exactly what was happening, as two small creatures darted out of it's stomach. The creature screeched in pain as they did, then went back to breathing.

"Do you have a visual on the target?" Akitoshi asked over the radio. As his eyes swept across the displays in front of him, he noticed that his fuel tank was practically dry. Four, maybe five minutes of normal flight were guaranteed, followed by about a minute and a half of possibly guided plummeting. He quickly rolled to the left as something nearly missed him. He noticed that his already banged up wings were starting to give.

"Yeah, we've got it, Guardian..." Kensuke replied, still not looking at the creature.

"We're moving to take care of it right now" Shinji nodded slowly. Although he did, strangely, feel sorry for this creature, and all the pain that it's mere existence caused itself, he knew he had a job to do. The smoke was coming from this thing, as were the hostiles in the sky.

"This is Cloud Breaker squadron. Sorry we're late, Guardian" another man's voice came through the radio. Shinji looked up and he could see the faint outlines of several jets streaking across the sky.

"Good! They're here" Shinji muttered. "C'mon, let's kill this thing so he can land!" he looked back to them. He was the first to move, running down the street. He drew his Progknife as Maya's voice came in from the base.

"The analysis is finished!" she told him.

"Huh? When was one started?"

"As soon as we got a visual on it. It's been confirmed blue. It's an Angel!" she was looking at the readout when she noticed something strange. "That's odd…"

"What?" Shinji didn't like the sound of that.

"The reading… it's really weak…" she was confused, but she shook her head. "Ah! I'm sorry. Proceed with the mission!" she relayed the orders she had screamed at her by Misato. Shinji could hear her in the background.

"Alright…" Shinji turned back. The others were gathered around him now. "Let's go!" he slid the knife. It's dull purple glow betrayed how deadly it was. Once again, Shinji had the feeling of pity. Killing this thing was like stabbing a corpse. It just felt wrong. He had to obey orders though. He was in front, so he was the first to strike. He drew the knife back and thrust it forward. It hit home, making the creature howl in agony. A thick, dark fluid gushed from the knife wound. The creature's 'face' distorted, moving to the side to look at Unit-01.

Shinji barely managed to scream as he was suddenly thrown away from it. He slammed into another building, sticky black fluid keeping him pinned there.

"Shit!" Touji flicked the safety off on the rifle and emptied a clip into it. It shrieked, its face moving back and forth, before tendrils shot out and whipped at the rifle, bisecting it and slashing at Unit-03s face. Touji stumbled back, blinded as the force from the slash, as well as the thick fluid covered up the display. "My eyes!" he clutched at his head as he fell down.

"Damn you!" Kensuke watched his friends get incapacitated. He fired the one weapon he had on Unit-04-a sidearm pistol- into it's face. It turned out the metal was sturdy _and_ flexible, as it deflected the bullets. One got through, making the creature gurgle as the same inky fluid it bled spilled out of its mouth like vomit. The puddle began to move towards Kensuke. "Wh-what the- AHH!" it jumped on Unit-04's face, and he ripped at it in an attempt to get it off.

Rei saw the three of them, getting hurt by the fighting. She turned her gaze to the creature. It stared back at her. Normally, if anyone or anything messed with Shinji, she would have hurt it. But she understood the pain this creature was going through. She slowly walked towards it. She dropped her Progknife as she stepped next to it. It seemed hesitant, a low, feral growl emanating from its throat. It sounded wet through the 'blood' that was still in it's mouth and throat. She set her hand on the side of its face.

_It's okay… I understand the pain you're in right now. I won't hurt you_, she thought, a smile on her face.

It seemed to understand. It stopped growling at her and calmed down.

_To be bound here… I know it's very painful to have half a form… To be incomplete… I know you're confused, and scared, and you want to return to 'that' place… I can help you if you want._

The thing looked at her. It said nothing. It did nothing. She knew, though, what it wanted. She nodded slowly.

"Good luck…" she closed her eyes and laid a hand against the center of it, her palm flat. She brought her fingers to her palm, ripping into the creature. It cried out in pain, but did not try to harm her. Instead, it turned its gaze to the sky. The smoke it had created faded away as it stared. The sky, it thought, was so great, and vast, and beautiful. In a situation, it is hard for one not to feel small and insignificant in the greater scheme of things, as it did now.

"I release you…" Rei muttered, opening her eyes quickly and forcing her hand into it. It shrieked loudly, breaking the windows along the building, and began to bulge up. It grew, enveloping Unit-00s arm, and a chunk of the building, then popped. The inky fluid was sent flying everywhere. It floated along in the air, before dissolving completely. Shinji fell from the building, trying to figure out what had happened. Touji and Kensuke were in similar positions.

"What the hell? You got it Rei!" Touji whooped, getting his bearings as he saw it had gone. The remains of the creature were no where to be seen.

"I wonder how Guardian and Cloud Breaker squadron did…" Kensuke looked up.

--

"Damnit! Hard left!" the leader of Cloud Breaker squadron ordered into the mic. His wingman moved with him, narrowly dodging what looked like a pulsing ball of blue flame. He saw something jet past him.

"I got this one!" Akitoshi grinned, hitting the fire for his missiles. Two of them streaked towards the target. It narrowly dodged one, the explosion making it spin out. The second one stuck home, blowing the strange creature to bits.

"Guardian, you have to be low on fuel"

"Yeah… I'm about to crash" Akitoshi chuckled as he noticed his fuel was practically empty.

"Roger that. Cloud breaker 2 and 3, on me. We need to get Guardian to somewhere where he can land safely"

"Yes sir!" the two of them replied. The two of them knew, as did Akitoshi, that there was no 'landing' when you were out of fuel. He needed somewhere to crash where he could possibly survive.

"Move in close and launch your landing clips" the leader said. Akitoshi understood what he was going to do. With high speed aircraft like this, they began to put strong metal landing clips on them, so they could approach the landing strip or carrier, slow down as they made their approach, and a netting at the end had places for the clips to mesh into. That way, the craft and pilot cold be taken to where they needed to be that much quicker. You never know. The two minutes saved in travel time could save the world.

"Kinda risky, isn't it?" Akitoshi asked, looking to the men.

"I don't want to hear that from you, Guardian" the leader chuckled. "Cloud Breaker 3, escort us straight east"

"Sir!"

"East? You mean to the lake?" Akitoshi understood now. He didn't plan to have them take him all the way back, just to the lake so he could land in the water and get retrieved afterwards. "Smart thinking" he grinned.

"Hey, we both got to become leaders because we formulated tactics on the fly, right?"

"I'll give you that" he nodded. The lake wasn't that far, and when it came within view, Akitoshi took in a deep breath. This was the part they never really talked about in the academy. Sure, there was the little crash course they gave you, but they never went into detail. This was the kind of stuff you had to experience to learn.

"We're letting go in 3… 2… 1… Release!"

"Shit… Wish me luck!" Akitoshi gritted his teeth as he felt the clips release. He didn't have any fuel left, but he could still steer the thing. He was still a reasonable distance above the lake. He steered precisely, making sure he lined up with the middle of the lake. That way, he wouldn't hit any sand banks or the floor or anything. As soon as he got it right on, he pulled back. He watched the flaps rise as he attempted to slow himself down. It was kind of like when you're skydiving, and you hold your arms and legs out.

He braced for impact as he got close, and was jarred and almost thrown out of his seat as he hit the surface of the water. His speed kept him going, skimming over the surface of the water until he stopped, a good distance from the shore.

"Phew… At least that's over with…" he sighed, hitting the release button on the canopy and reaching over. He hit an orange button on the side of his seat, and waited as the emergency flotation devices on the jet moved into place. He was glad that, in the final plans, they decided not to cut this particular feature to save money. He took his first breath of fresh air in what felt like an eternity, and relaxed. They'd be along to get him soon. He rested back against his seat, suddenly very tired. He felt something warm on the inside of his leg. Was that…?

"Damn…" he grinned as he passed out, seeing a small nub of bone sticking up through the skin on his leg and flight suit. He should have known something would have happened. At the time, though he didn't care. He was just glad to be alive.

--

"I wonder what she's thinking right now…" Jin scratched his chin as he watched from the mounted camera in the room. Asuka sat like she had been for the past couple hours, her knees to her chest, and her head in her lap. He pulled the sleeve on his suit back, looking to a small bracelet. He smiled softly. "Asuka… Kyoko… Don't you worry about a thing…"


	13. Let's get ready!

Phew...

So much stuff to take care of DX

It seems like there aren't enough hours in the day, not enough days in the wekk any more. Time seems to be flying by. I've been really busy lately. I'm working together with my teacher and classmates in a class I have right now to get a government grant for the school. We're trying to build a completely clean building, that runs off of solar and is off grid. It's pretty time consming, and it's hard work. But it'll be worth it. On the other hand, I've also had to practice my guitar like crazy because I have a gig coming up soon. Another little portion of my time was devoted to Resident Evil 5. That game is great =D

Then, there was the incident... I was a bit careless, and a part of my place caught on fire ^^; None of my stuff was damaged, and I managed to put it out rather quickly, but it was till kind of embarrassing. I told my parents about it and we had a laugh. Then my sister found about it. She really chewed me out x.x

She said I was too busy spacing out and I was clumsy. She scolded for a while before sighing and telling me that I couldn't really help it. I'm not sure if that was meant to be a compliment or an isult, but meh XP

As a result, she's coming back down to stay with me to make sure I don't mess up again. Sometimes, I really wonder who the older sibling is XD

Anyway, for this chapter, I'm setting up the next couple entries, and I chose to explore Jin's character a bit, along with how he was connected to Asuka parents in the past. Sorry it took so long, but like I said, there are a lot of things to be done and not a lot of time.

Music: "Don't Trust Me" 3OH!3, "Clint Eastwood" The Gorrilaz, "Shoulda Known" Party Fun Action Comittee, "2 A.M." Cool Calm Pete, and "I'll be your home" Oikawa Rin.

--

"And in your time in the presence of the Angel, what did you experience?"

"Excuse me, sir?" Akitoshi kept his gaze staring forward.

"Did you experience any abnormal feelings, or feel ill?" a different voice asked the question this time.

"No sir"

"Did you see anything?"

"No, sir, I couldn't see anything. My squad and wingman couldn't see each other in the smoke, and neither could I"

"Understood. You're excused"

"Thank you, sir" Akitoshi snapped a crisp salute before leaning on his crutch as he took a step forward. The bone had been fractured in several places, and a part of it still needed to be operated on as it had been shattered. It was nothing permanent, but they assured him he wouldn't be flying any time soon, and had even hinted at him never being able to fly again.

"I see you came out alright" a voice startled Akitoshi, who had been lost in his thoughts. He looked over to see Gendo.

"Commander!" he snapped to attention, wincing a bit as his leg burned with pain. Gendo returned the salute.

"That's not necessary, son. Walk with me" he motioned Akitoshi forward. Akitoshi did his best to limp along with Gendo. "What you and your team did out there today… They died proud deaths on the battlefield. It's good to have you back"

"I know, sir" Akitoshi nodded slowly. All credit to him, he didn't let his expression slip for a moment. He would have preferred that his squad… his friends still be alive, and he have died instead.

"I know how you feel, son. I wish they could have made it back too. They were all good people, each and every one of them" Gendo folded his hands behind his back.

"Sir, they knew the risks. Just having a chance to perform our job is enough" he nodded slowly. He had feelings of resentment and bitterness swimming around inside of his chest. How could anyone understand how he felt? How the rest of his squad felt? They were a family.

"I know, son. I know" Gendo nodded slowly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it up and turned it around. It was a solid silver emblem. It was a detailed and rather beautiful medal. It was of an eagle, diving towards it's prey, with a lightning bolt in the background. Akitoshi knew what this medal was. He knew what it was for. Back when he was learning to fly, he always dreamt of getting this particular medal. It was awarded to pilots who went above and beyond, continuing despite injuries or other obstacles and overcoming the odds. Most of the time, this awards were given posthumously.

"This medal…" Akitoshi laughed bitterly.

"Hmm?" Gendo cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I've always wanted one. I thought I'd be proud when I got it. I just wish I could have gotten it some other way…"

"I truly am sorry about your squad. How are you holding up?"

"Me?" Akitoshi looked up from the medal, taking the box from Gendo as he handed it to him. "Aside from my injuries and my pride, I'm fine. I just never thought my reward for serving would be to get my wings clipped" he sighed.

"Oh, about that…" Gendo smirked. "I'll take care of that issue. You just get some rest"

--

"Man… Things are getting hectic…" Kensuke sighed as he stared up at the night sky. The battle, along with the aftermath, had taken quite a while.

"What's the matter? Having second thoughts about this whole 'fighting to save the world' thing?" Touji teased, grinning as he stretched out.

"No way man!"

"Phew… we were unprepared today" Shinji sighed. He was lying back against the cool grass, Rei lying next to him. She nodded softly. "Good job out there, Rei" Shinji smiled and patted her on the head. She giggled quietly.

"Thanks, Onii-san!" she nuzzled up against him and closed her eyes.

"Take it back!" Kensuke and Touji were wrestling with each other off to the side, arguing about small things.

"Never! Not until you give up!" Touji laughed loudly.

"Do you think…" as Shinji spoke up, the other two paused and stayed quiet. Rei opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbow. "… I'll ever get her back" he held a hand up, closing it slowly, as if around someone's hand.

"Onii…"

"We've been through so much in such a short amount of time. The searching isn't turning up any leads. Sure, we've got the recordings to go off of, but if this guy is part of some sort of super secret part of the military or government, then how are we gonna find him?"

"Shinji, I…" Touji didn't know what to say. He was trying to find the right words.

"You have a point…" Kensuke nodded slowly. He hated to be a pessimist, but what Shinji said definitely made sense. He was about to open his mouth again when Rei sat up suddenly.

"No!" she shook her head.

"Rei? What are you-"

"No, Onii-san!" she turned her head to the side and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I don't understand…" he scratched the back of his head.

Rei looked back to him. She drew her hand back, her look turning into a glare. Her hand whistled through the air before it collided with Shinji's face. Her slap had enough force to make Shinji's neck crack.

"Ow! Rei?!"

"No!" she insisted. She stomped her feet on the ground. "No! No! NO!" she stood up and looked down at him. "Onii-san needs to brighten up!" she yelled at him, her glare intensifying. Shinji looked up at her, her glare making him a bit nervous. "Onii has been through a lot, and has worked very hard. I won't let Onii fall apart now!" she shook her head.

"Rei…" Shinji understood now. He smiled, clenching a fist and holding it out in front of him. "I understand. Thank you… sis" he smiled and nodded at her. She blushed, looking down at her feet. She always called him Onii-san. He never called her sis. He moved forward and gave her a light hug. "Thanks for always having my back"

"N-No problem, Onii-san! If you ever start to fall apart, or say something stupid, I'll always be here to slap you back into shape!" she smiled at him and laid her head on his shoulder. Shinji held her like that for a bit, before moving back.

"We should get back. It's getting kind of late"

"Yeah…" she giggled softly as she grabbed his arm.

"You're right. I better head home. My dad and little sister will freak out if I don't" Touji rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah. I'm sure my dad has something he needs me to do" Kensuke chuckled and grinned. "It sure feels good saving the world…"

"Yeah… You got that right" Shinji nodded and laughed with the rest of them as they began to walk.

--

The blue lines flickered, the once again lit up as the light moved along the design on the floor. Asuka sighed.

"Twenty-seven…" she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She was bored to death of the cell they stuck her in. She almost felt like crying. At least before, she had a nice view. She shook herself. She couldn't cry. She had to be strong. She wasn't going to let these bastards get the satisfaction of knowing they were getting to her. She stretched her legs and arms out and laid back.

"He lied…" she muttered to herself. Zenith promised to visit with Enya. Asuka hadn't heard from them since. She sighed and kicked one of her legs up onto her knee and stared up at the ceiling, The others were going to find her soon, because they were looking… Right?

--

Misato laid her head down on her arm. She sighed and stared ahead at the computer screen, absently pushing the down key down to sort through emails. They were all status updates on the search for Asuka. Most of them said the same thing: "Nothing yet" or something to that effect. She yawned and opened her eyes. A new email caught her eye. Not because the inbox wasn't full of new messages-because it was- but because it was from a different email address. The teams and agents were all assigned emails to send information in on. It was on a secure connection, and only those involved with the search knew the email to contact. So what was this?

"Hmmm…" she sat up and clicked on it. It took it a second to load, but when it did, she scrolled down to look at the information. It was a map. To be more accurate, a part of a map. She looked it over for a second, the kept reading on. There was a small message underneath it.

"_From: Our mysterious benefactors"_

--

Shinji fumbled around with his shoes to get them off before walking in and falling back into the couch. The fight from earlier was strange… The Angel did fight back, but… it didn't seem like it wanted to hurt them. He wasn't sure how Rei managed to kill it, but he was grateful that she did it without getting hurt.

"Onii-san! I'll make you something to eat" Rei announced. She walked into the kitchen, slipped her apron on, and reached into the refrigerator.

"Alright!" he replied. He decided to go change while she got the food ready. He slid the door to his room open and stepped inside. He waited until the door was closed to turn the light on. He quickly threw his shirt off and reached into his drawer for another one, but something caught his eye. It was an envelope. The black envelope sat on his nightstand, the back unsealed. He reached over and pulled the slip of paper out of it.

"_If you're serious about finding her, come to the park at eight tonight. You know which one I'm talking about"_

"What the…?" Shinji read it over again. Who? Was somebody trying to mess with him? Misato or Kaji? No it would be in bad taste, and they were just as concerned about finding her. He didn't know if it was real or not, but he was going to find out. He put a black t-shirt on and grabbed a sweater. He ran past Rei as she was cooking in the kitchen.

"Ah, Onii!" she followed him to the hallway near the door.

"I'll be right back, Rei!" he called back to her, waving as he ran. The door slid open and the cool night air rushed to meet him. The cold breeze blew from an open window at the end of the hall. He checked his phone as he hit the button for the elevator.

"Shit… not enough time!" he slipped it back in his pocket and ran for the stairs, sliding down the banister and moving as quickly as he could.

--

"I'm headed back down, Sat-chan!" Jin called to his assistant. She tried to stand up, but her laptop kept her from doing so.

"A-ah! Sir, wait! You have a meeti- Oh well…" she sighed as he left. He was already too far to catch up to. What did he find so interesting down there anyway? She didn't like going down there. It was creepy. She shuddered as she thought about it. Something just didn't seem natural. She couldn't place it but it just felt wrong. She shook her head and sighed. She'd never understand him. She smiled absently as she thought about him. He was really nice though… and he was so handsome. She shook herself.

"What am I thinking? I have to get back to work!" she scolded herself for thinking about stuff like that. He needed her after all, didn't he? That thought brought another smile to her face. Without her, he'd probably be disorganized and confused. She brushed her long black hair out of her face and pulled it back into a pony tail before getting back to work.

--

"Made it…" Shinji gasped for air. Normally, he could put up with a bit of running, but he ran all the way here from home. He looked around as he caught his breath. This park brought back memories. He remembered playing here as a kid.

"Wait…" he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Why couldn't he remember it clearly? He glanced over at the sandbox. He had been here… right? He nodded slowly. He definitely remembered being here. He played happily with the older kids while his mom and the other moms gossiped. He bent down to touch the sand when he heard something behind him.

"I see you made it…"

"Who are you?" Shinji turned around slowly and looked at the person in front of him. His face was obscured by a hood, and he was wearing a cloak around himself. He held a hand up as a particularly strong breeze blew his hair into his eyes.

"Doesn't matter. Are you serious about getting her back….?" The man's head moved up a little bit.

"Yes" Shinji nodded. The man didn't look to much taller than him, and his voice made him sound young as well. He couldn't have been much older, if not as old, as he was, Shinji realized.

"I see… That's good. So he was right?"

"Who was right?" Shinji narrowed his eyes a bit. That seemed to amuse the man a bit.

"Nobody. That's not what we're here to talk about. We're here to talk about her"

"About Asuka"

"Yes… A particular piece of… information was passed along to you. Take this" he held his hand out. Shinji took a small transparent disk from his hand and looked it over.

"What is this? A CD?"

"It's an MO Disk. Take it back to NERV and give it to them… it'll make the path clear"

"How do I know this won't just hack the server or cause the system to crash?"

"Well, that…" the man raised his head a bit. Shinji could see his hair. His bangs were a bit long, and his hair was black. There was a grin on his lips. "You'll just have to trust me. Think about just how much you want to save her. The time to do this is nearing quickly. Make your decisions accordingly" the man nodded and took a step back.

"Wait!" Shinji lunged forward, trying to grab him. Maybe he could take him in for more information. He was too quick though. He kicked off against the ground and dodged Shinji's grab. His hood fell back, and his long black hair moved with the wind. Shinji felt a few drops of water hit his skin as it began to sprinkle.

"Make your choice! Save her, or let this chance slip between your fingers!" he teased, before leaping back, a blast of wind causing Shinji to stagger and lose sight of him.

"Damn!" he growled, looking around. If only he had been a bit faster… He looked down at his hand. He kept the disk from getting wet as he looked it over. Something seemed fishy, but he had to take the chance. He was sick of looking and finding nothing. He had to do something. He had been looking for a chance, and here it was. He took off running towards the base. Either this would work, or it wouldn't. Either way, he had to do something.

--

Asuka's looked up from her lap as the door opened. The sound of it snapped her out of it. She was just nodding off to sleep as a visitor came by. The light from outside invaded the room and hurt her eyes.

"Ah, I hope I didn't wake you" the man said. The door slid shut and the room was dark again. She could still see his outline, and that he was walking toward her slowly. She remembered his voice.

"What the hell do you want?" she hissed. She couldn't muster up the strength or energy to fight back like she usually did right now. She was tired, cold, and bored. The little voice at the back of her was still asking her that nagging question: Was everyone really looking for her. She still chose to ignore it as she looked up at Jin.

"I came down here to check on you" he said simply, sitting next to her. She glared sideways at him and scooted away from him a bit. "What? I'm not going to hurt you" he smiled.

"Just leave me alone. I'm not in the mood for this" she sighed.

"Kyoko…" he started, leaning his head back.

"What…? Mother?" Asuka looked over at him.

"She was a great woman. She could be very temperamental at times, and she could get pretty scary when she was mad, but she was still a joy to be around" he smiled. "As I recall, she was very protective of you"

"T-that's none of your business" Asuka looked away from him. "But… my mother… I don't remember a lot about her. Tell me about her" she didn't like talking to him, or relying on his help, but she was curious.

"About Kyoko? Alright" he smiled. "She was nice… Very beautiful, and very graceful. Of course, she was strict as all hell when it came to work, yet she was very playful and would easily get sidetracked"

"I see…" Asuka smiled softly. She didn't let him see her smile as he spoke. She was a lot like her mother, she realized.

"She was a great cook. She used to bring stuff in for me. She knew I was just a poor assistant, straight out of college, with a bunch of loans and debts to pay" he nodded slowly. "Of course, I appreciated any help I could get. The fact that it was as delicious as it was only served as a bonus. Every meal, I always tried to pay her for it, but every time I did that, she'd lightly rap me on the head and say that it was alright…"

Asuka looked over to the man. The way he spoke about her mother…

"Were you… in love with her?" she asked, scooting a bit closer to him. Maybe he wasn't all bad.

"Love? I guess you could call it that" he laughed. "I cared about her a lot, and I'd take every chance I could get to do anything she needed. Whether that be getting her some coffee, to working overtime so she could have a longer lunch or go home, and sometimes even carrying her to the small cot we had set up in the room and tucking her in… Yes, I guess you could say I loved her"

"Did you ever tell her?"

"Tell her? How could I? I was just a lowly, idiot of an assistant" he laughed again, rubbing the back of his head. "I was planning to… then I met your father. It was the first time I'd seen him"

"My father?" Asuka tilted her head to the side.

"Yes. He was very imposing. He had this atmosphere about him that made him seem dangerous, or powerful. In the end, though, we ended up going out for drinks. Kyoko decided that I had been working very hard, so she told me to go and relax. Your dad seemed kind of scary, but he was a great man" Jin nodded slowly again, as if placing himself back at that specific time.

"What did you do?"

"Well, like I said, we went out for drinks, and man did we get drunk. We were both sitting there, at the table, when your father started talking to me about you and your mother"

"What did he say?" Asuka remembered only a little about her father. Just like with her mother, it was cloudy.

"Well… He smiled at me and said 'Those two… They're the most important thing sin the world to me. Screw the job, screw the money, they're all that matters. I'd gladly give up all my work, money, and anything else to keep them happy forever. Let's drink to this!'" Jin chuckled. "After that, your mom ended up having to come by and pick us up because we were plastered" he shrugged.

"I didn't think you knew my parents so well…" Asuka said slowly, looking down at her hands.

"They were good people… just like you" he patted her on the head as he stood up.

"Ah…! Do you have to go already?" she started out detesting him and his presence, but now, she felt comforted by him. She liked hearing about her parents in the past.

"Yeah, sorry" he rubbed the back of his head. He started walking towards the door, but he stopped and turned around. "Asuka…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry about a thing. It's going to be alright" he gave her a small thumbs up, then the door slid open, and he was gone. Asuka laid down on her side slowly and closed her eyes. With a small smile, she fell asleep, trying to imagine her parents back in the past.

--

"Sir…" Zenith stepped out of the shadows next to the door.

"Ah, Zenith… There you are" Jin smiled as he looked over to the boy. He stood there, half concealed by darkness. "Did you take care of everything I told you to?"

"Yes sir" Zenith bowed his head slightly.

"Good…" Jin rolled his sleeve back slightly and looked at the bracelet he was wearing.

"Sir… Might I ask?"

"Ask what, son?" he looked up as Zenith bowed his head again.

"Zenith is the name they gave me. What is my real name?" he didn't look up.

"Ah… You've been thinking about that recently, I see" he nodded slowly, rubbing his chin.

"Yes. I shall act according to plan, and I know what my fate is. Before then, though… Can you help me understand myself?"

"That's not unreasonable" Jin nodded.

"Thank you…"

"Your name… your real name"

"Yes?"

"Your real name is… Zeruel"


	14. God knows

Hey all! Guess what? I'm back! :D

Well, that job I was going to get was a dud x.x

So I'm back to job hunting. In the meantime, though, I've got school to contend with, and I've joined up with something of a local writers group. We all write short stuff, bring it in, and read what the others wrote. It's pretty cool, and I'm picking a lot of things up from the other writers. Who knows, maybe I'll post up a short or two later XP

Anyway, it's good to be back! It may take me a while for an update after this, but it definitely won't take as long as this one did XD

Music: "-God knows…-" Hirano Aya, "I gotta feeling" Black Eye Peas, "I'm still here" John Rzeznik, "Oh no you didn't" Mercenaries 2 promo(I love this song), and "Graves(We wrote the book)" P.O.S

--

"I'm telling you! It doesn't make sense!" Hyuga shouted, sighing.

"And I'm telling you it has to!" Misato shouted back, her hands on her hips and her eyes like daggers as she alternated between staring at Hyuga and the screen.

"This part of the map makes no sense! There's no topography, and the way this image is, it could have been cut from any number of places. We can't match it just by trying to fit it some place" he shrugged. He didn't want to give up so easily, but those were the facts. "And what makes you think this has anything to do with Asuka anyway? Wasn't that a random email? It was encrypted very well, and we can't manage to crack that and track it somewhere"

"I just…" Misato muttered, shaking her head slowly. "I know it does" she nodded slowly. Sure, it didn't say anything about her, and it could have been, quite literally, about anything else. Still… Something in her told her that it had to do with Asuka.

"Well, for the mean time, it's good to have the clue. That still doesn't change the fact that we know next to nothing about how to go about interpreting this clue, or if it's not just fraudulent information sent to us to throw us completely off" he sighed once more. Sure, he liked Misato. It wasn't really a secret. She could still be irrational, stubborn, and just plain hard to deal with at times.

"I know, I know!" she sighed loudly as she let her head fall and lay on the desk next to the keyboard. She was exhausted, hungry, and most of all, angry. She thought she had found just what they needed. She thought she'd finally be able to help Shinji, and get Asuka back. No matter how she looked at it, or tried to look at it, she saw the two of them as family. And not only that, but she felt a deep debt to Shinji.

"… You should take a break" Kaji finally stepped in. He was exhausted as well, and he had planned to let the two bicker until they lost interest, but now he saw he couldn't do that. He was just as tired as the rest of them, but he figured he could take it. "I can handle things here"

"What? I-I can't. I can't just leave you here with all that work to do…" she said slowly.

"Don't worry about it. I know you're tired. I feel just fine. Get something to eat, and grab a couple hours of sleep" he waved her off slowly as he turned back to the map fragment and taped away at the keys, using the program they had been using to try to figure out just where the map fragment was showing them.

"Kaji…" she smiled softly. She knew this was one of his stupid, macho things to impress her, but she didn't care this time. She wouldn't yell at him for it. He was doing this more out of caring for her than trying to impress her, she knew, but it still impressed her nonetheless. "Thank you. I'll wake up in a bit and we can switch off" she walked out of the room slowly.

_Damn… Why is he always so cool? And why does he always steal all of Misato's attention?_

Hyuga shook his head and sighed. He knew he had no chance with Misato, but still… A guy can hope, right?

--

Shinji tried to catch his breath as he fumbled around in his pocket for his NERV card. He needed to get into the base so he cold show them the disk.

"Damn!" he couldn't find it. He checked his other pockets. "Did I-?!"

"Looking for this…?" a voice asked. He turned to see Rei standing there, her hand stretched out and his card hanging from it.

"Rei! You brought it! Th-" he started to thank her, but he was hit in the face with some clothes.

"What were you thinking?! Running into the rain like that, not telling me where you were going… Onii-san is a jerk! A big jerk!" Rei whined as she shook her head.

"I-I'm sorry Rei. I just had to get out and…" he looked down in his hands at the new clothes. "What are these for?"

"To change into of course" Rei smiled playfully and nodded. "I knew you'd need a change of clothes"

"Wow… Nice one" Shinji laughed and smiled back as he walked towards the bathroom. "Hold on. I'll change real quick" he told her and pushed the door open. Rei nodded and reached into her bag that she had carried his clothes in. She picked up a little red book and opened it to a page she had bookmarked. She smiled as she pulled a pen out of the bag as well and started to write…

--

"Sir! You wasted too much time" Satsuna scolded as she sighed and set a cup of tea on Jin's desk.

"Ah, yes, yes. I'm sorry Sat-chan" Jin grinned as he rubbed the back of his head.

"If I listened to you more often, I'd definitely be a lot better off"

"I-I don't know about that… But you should really think about your work more!" she blushed, embarrassed at being praised.

"You're definitely right. I wouldn't have to cram on this report if I focused more" he nodded and sipped at the tea she made. "As always, it's delicious" he nodded and looked over the papers in front of him.

"Is there anything you need me to do, sir?"

"Sat-chan… how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Jin" he smiled and stretched.

"O-okay. Is there anything you need me to do, Jin?" she cast her glance down at her feet.

"Actually, there is" he nodded slowly as he set his pen down and sipped more of the tea.

"What is it?" she looked back up at him. He looked her over. She had been with him for two years now. She was still like she had been back then. She was at average height and she had a petite frame. He used to tease her about it, but he stopped when he realized it hurt her more than she let on. She always had a concerned look about her face, except when she was scolding him. Her black hair was held up in a ponytail but if it wasn't, it would have come down to her shoulders. She blinked her green eyes and blushed a bit.

"Sir…? You're making me nervous…" she fidgeted around. He realized his staring was what was making her nervous. He shook his head slightly.

"Sorry. There is something I need you to do. Later on, there will be some… visitors. At that time, I need you to show them where to go down below. After that… Well, if it's necessary, I'll tell you what to after that when it comes up" he nodded. She didn't really understand his vague instructions, but she figured she could do what she always did: Wait until it actually happened and listen to his instructions then.

"Yes si- I mean, yes Jin" she nodded. It was true that she had been with him for two years, but she still felt uncomfortable around him sometimes. She couldn't stand here. She felt too weird. "I-I'll make more tea" she quickly skipped off to the small kitchen they had down there, not waiting for his reply.

"Gotcha" Jin replied, although he knew she didn't hear him. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on his desk. He grabbed the papers and set them in his lap. He never finished his work on time, despite Satsuna's urging and scolding. He laughed quietly as he picked up his pen.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, Sat-chan… For once… Just for today, I'll finish everything on time. I promise…"

--

"It appears we have a leak, sir" a voice in the darkness spoke slowly, almost monotonously. The sound of a deep breath could be heard.

"I see. And what exactly leaked?" the voice on the other side of the conversation was one that appeared to exist without a body, save the empty void of darkness.

"It seems as if our friends at NERV have been tipped off towards the whereabouts of our little prisoner" a deep breath was sucked in. "We've narrowed it down to Jin Shinogama, and Zenith.

"The bastard… I had a feeling he'd cause trouble… but I didn't expect this from Zenith" the man sighed as he thought for a moment. "They'll attempt to rescue her, no doubt. Take a small team of men. Get in there and kill everyone. Those two are priority targets. Get the girl and bring her back to use. I won't tolerate failure…"

"Yes, sir" the cold reply came. The owner slowly stood up and left the room. He had a mission to take care of.

--

"Hurry, Onii-san!" Rei tugged Shinji along as he tried to straighten his shirt.

"Wait, Rei! I want to get in and hand over the disc, but my shirt is still over my head!" he cried, moving his arms. The moisture on his arms made the material of the new shirt rather cranky as it refused to go on easily. When he finally got his head through and his arms as well, he sighed in relief. That took way more energy than it should have. He still held the disc as they once again ran down the hall. He gripped it tight. They'd finally be able to find her! To save her!

"This way!" Rei tugged him towards a computer room, knocking the door down. Misato rolled over in her cot, freaked out by the door as she fell out of the nice, warm bed. Kaji and Hyuga spun around. Rei grinned and gave them a thumbs up.

"I have something!" Shinji held the disc up. Hyuga stood up and took it from him, adjusting his glasses and scratching his chin.

"Hmmm… An MO disk? We haven't used these for years. Good thing out budget is so horrible… these computers still have drives for them" He sat down at the computer Kaji was at, minimizing the mapping program as he inserted the disk and opened it. "Eat your heart out, Jill Valentine…" he muttered.

"What?" Shinji asked, looking down to him.

"Nothing. It seems as if this disk… What's this?" he moved back a little, surprised as a program opened on its own. He tried moving the mouse, but it didn't follow his movements. Instead, it moved the program that just opened, and opened the mapping program. It pulled the new program into the target field at the top, and the program slowly drew a wire frame around a small area.

"What is it doing?" Shinji watched it. So the kid he met earlier had been sincere? And his hopes weren't misplaced?

"Drawing a model for us… it should give us exact coordinates…" Hyuga watched as well. This was odd. The frame was finished, and the program zoomed in close. The axis tilted, giving the map a three dimensional view. The screen started to look less like a map, and more like a satellite image. The frame slowly filled in. It was a hill. Kaji was about to open his mouth when he saw the frame draw again. It outlined a corridor.

"Sneaky bastards… Thought they abandoned those…" Misato muttered, looking at it.

"What is it?" Shinji asked. It was obviously a base in a hill, but she seemed to understand more.

"Back in the days… After Second Impact, many hills and mountains such as these all over the world we hollowed out. They were like… prototype Geofronts. They were inferior, of course, but they proved successful, which is how the Fronts like this one, the substation, and the other Fronts in other countries and continents were built. They needed something to test a Geofront's efficiency and usability, and these bases were their guinea pigs" Kaji muttered.

"Yes, but they were all supposed to have been deactivated years ago, remember?" Misato scratched her chin. "Oh! Hi Shinji, and you too Rei" she smiled as she noticed they were there. Rei smiled back, and Shinji nodded.

"So what do we do now?" Shinji asked. He wanted action and he wanted it now! They could move her at any second.

"Well... we get a printout and take it to your father. After that…" Misato trailed off.

"... After that, we get the lead out" Kaji grinned.

--

"Hey dad I-Whoa!" Shinji jumped back at the sight of his father's room. The formerly dead, empty black space was filled with different types of plants. Gendo sat under a tree, sipping tea as he relaxed. It seemed he been hard at work. The small plant on his desk had grown, and the plants around him formed a peaceful environment.

"Ah, son! And everyone else. What can I do for you?" he smiled as he stood up, setting his tea on the desk.

"We-uh… What the hell is going on?" Shinji sighed. He had to ask.

"What do you mean? The plants?" Gendo looked around then shrugged. "The room needed something to give it life. It looked empty and dead before" he nodded.

"Well, we need your approval. We have charts and maps and everything" he didn't have time to figure out what exactly was going on. Maybe his father was just turning a new leaf, though he doubted it. He took the charts and maps, laying them out on the table to show him what he was talking about. "We know where they have Asuka. We can go in there and get her!"

"They're using one of the old prototype Geofronts, on the far east side" Kaji nodded, pointing it out on the map.

"We have every reason to suspect that they're heavily armed and fortified" Misato continued, standing in front of Gendo's desk. "We're going to need the EVA's, the pilots, and support from the JASDF"

"I see…" Gendo nodded slowly, setting his tea down. He scratched his chin. "We don't have the resources for an operation like this right now…"

"Father! We need to-"

"So I better set about getting everything for us, eh?" Gendo smiled, standing. Shinji stared up at him. He was almost certain this couldn't be the same man he had known during his childhood, the man who left him. He couldn't be the man who called him at a seconds notice to force him to fight against a huge monster in a giant robot he knew nothing about.

"Thank you, sir! I'll head to the control room!" Misato saluted quickly before turning and leaving with Kaji. Rei hesitated, but left with the two of them while glancing at Shinji.

"This is pretty exciting… We finally found her, eh, son?" Gendo asked, looking to Shinji. Shinji nodded slowly. Gendo smiled as he saw Rei trailing behind the others before the door shut. She was still glancing back, no doubt at Shinji.

"Father, I… Thank you" Shinji looked to his father.

"No problem son" he smiled, picking his cup of tea up and finishing as he got ready to organize everything. "Just promise me something, Shinji"

"What?" he looked to his father. What had happened to him? Whatever did, it changed him for the better.

"Promise you'll take of her…" Gendo turned his back to Shinji, staring out of the window across the Geofront.

"I will, father I swear it!" Shinji nodded, turning and leaving the room. Gendo chuckled as he left. He didn't get to finish. He sighed and started to follow after the others, leaving his new room behind. "Yui…. What are we going to do with them? So young and full of life… Just like we were so long ago" he smiled and let the door slide shut. "I know he'll protect her… He won't let anything happen to her" Gendo sighed and started to walk faster. No time to be slow now. Important things needed to be done today.

--

Jin sighed and leaned back in his chair. He drank some of the tea Satsuna had made for him before falling asleep on her desk. He glanced over at her, smiling. She was cute when she was sleeping. She was cute while she was awake, as well, but watching her like this made her seem so helpless… He sighed and glanced back to his desk. Over five months of paperwork, intel, and reports, done in under two hours. He tried moving his right hand, only to get a spike of pain go through it. Still too stiff and sore to move… He sighed.

"Got it all done today… For you, Sat-chan" he smiled again and stood up, massaging his wrist. He pulled his sleeve up and walked to the sink, soaking his wrist in warm water for a moment. It felt soothing after all that work. He sighed, but realized he still had work to do. He let the water drain before moving back to his desk. He quickly filed the reports according to date and relevance, then turned and left the room behind him. He started down the stairs, towards Asuka's cell. It was a lot of work to get her palced in a cell so close to his office, but he pulled it off.

"Huh?" Asuka stood up as the door slid open. She was still waiting to see Zenith and Enya, but when she saw it was Jin, she smiled slightly. She thought she might have gone a bit crazy. What was it called again? Stockholm syndrome? She shrugged.

"Hey, Asuka. How are you?" Jin smiled back, walking over and sitting with her. He winced as he moved his wrist. Perhaps doing all of that paper work was a bad idea… His wrist was already in bad enough condition from back when he was in active duty.

"I'm fine. How about you, are you alright?" she asked, noticing there seemed to be something wrong with his wrist.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Just blitzed my way through about five months worth of paperwork, so my wrist is a little worse for the wear right now" he laughed. Asuka laughed with him punching him in the shoulder.

"You're such a wimp" she grinned. "So, I just wanted to ask you… Did you know about my mom?"

"Hm? Know what?" he asked, looking to her.

"About how she…"

"Yeah… I heard. Involvement in Project E was pretty dangerous. Before we ended up using your mother, as well as that boy, Shinji Ikari's mother, most of the people who volunteered were… broken…"

_What? Shinji's mom?_

"Shinji's mom did it too?" she asked. She'd known her mother had been involved in the project, after talking to many close family friends. She didn't know much about Project E, other than it was what made the EVAs.

"Yes. His mother did it in Unit-01. That was the first fully working model. Though… she didn't survive the activation. She wasn't like any of the others, who-like your mother-were mentally broken after the activation experiment. She died from the activation itself, and her body was never found…"

"I see…" Asuka nodded slowly. She never knew any of that. Then again, she guessed she never asked Shinji about his mother. She blushed slightly as she realized the only time they'd ever talked about her was when they kissed in the living room, back on the anniversary of her death.

"Yes… It's tragic, and the losses were great, but in the end, anyway you look at it we needed what those two gave us" Jin nodded, looking down at the ground. "You see what it means, don't you? What your mother and his did?"

"What do you mean?" Asuka was confused.

"Two mothers… Giving their lives for the world… No, it would be better to say for their children. To give them a fighting chance… A way to save the world they lived in. They knew the risks they were taking"

"I-I see…" Asuka was annoyed at herself. All she could do was nod and say 'I see' as he was explaining all of this. Jin laughed and shook his head slightly.

"Perhaps I'm reading too much into the situation… Though knowing Kyoko, I wouldn't doubt it" he smiled. He reached under the sleeve that wasn't already rolled up. It hurt to move his wrist still, but he ignored the pain as he pulled a bracelet off of his wrist and handed it to her.

"What is this?" Asuka asked, looking it over. It was a nice bracelet… It was a small gold chain. Every couple of links, there were silver squares with letters on them, though they were too worn to be read. She had to lean in close to it and squint to read them. Even then, though, she had trouble.

"A-S-U-K-A" Jin pointed to each letter and told her what they were.

"Wait… Isn't this-" she looked up to him to see him nodding.

"It was your mother's, so long ago. As you can see, it's been through quite a lot. Before she went in… Before Kyoko went to do the activation experiment, she handed it to me. Told me to hold onto it for her. She said she trusted me to take care of it. I've had it since then, the only thing I have to remember her by"

"I can't take this from you" Asuka shook her head and pushed it back to him.

"No. You have to. I won't take it back" Jin shook his head as well.

"B-but she gave it to you. It's all you have le-"

"No, Asuka. It's yours. It wouldn't be right for me to keep it" Jin said firmly. He stood, stretching and yawning. "I have to head back up now Asuka. Don't worry, though. I'll see you soon" he smiled as he left. When the door slid shut, he sighed, and his head drooped. He hated lying…

--

"Sorry, sorry!" Kensuke apologized quickly as his plug slid forward. It locked into place, and he synced up with Unit-04. He sighed. It felt great in the EVA. Just like he always imagined it would. His face appeared in Shinji's cockpit as he spoke. He sighed as Kensuke picked his nose. He seemed to realize he was on screen, and freaked out. Giggling could be heard from the control booth, no doubt Maya's.

_If it makes Miss Maya laugh… I can bear this embarrassment!_

"Alright! That's everyone!" Misato's cheerful voice came through the comms, and a live feed of the control booth appeared net to Kensuke, with Misato at the front of it. "We're getting ready to move out!"

"Hey, Shinji" Touji's face appeared next to Kensuke's. He scratched the back of his head as he spoke. "You look excited… or maybe you're nervous, man?"

"You could say that again… We're finally going to save her! At the same time, though… I can't help but be a bit nervous…" he chuckled nervously, as if to prove he was telling the truth.

"Onii-san!" Rei's face appeared in the slowly growing crowd of feeds on his right. "Don't be nervous! You can do it, and we're here to back you up!" she flashed a thumbs up and winked at him as she spoke.

"She's right!" Kensuke smiled. "All of us are here for you. If you need help, or can't handle something on your own, just ask"

"We got your back" Touji nodded.

"'Till the end!" Misato winked and smiled, and Kaji waved in the background.

"Thanks, everyone" he smiled, and laughed as he saw Rei. She seemed to be sulking at the fact that everyone else jumped in and took the spotlight away from her. She cheered up quickly though, winking and sticking her tongue out at him. He nodded, a big smile on his face.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Misato grinned as the Eva's were quickly moved back onto the platforms. All except Unit-02. Shinji looked to it as he was slowly pulled bac.

_Don't worry, Kyoko… I'm gonna save her, and I'll keep her safe!_

Shinji clenched a fist as he gripped the controls, a grin on his face.

"Let's do this!"

--


	15. Serious Announcement For serious

Guess who remembered their log in details? It's been a long ass time. WAAAAY longer than I'd wanted it to be. I'm glad to say that I'll be getting back to work on this particular story. Sorry this isn't an update in itself as far as a new chapter. I'm working right now amongst other things, though. I'm not too sure when I'll be getting back to my Zelda fic, but expect an update on this story shortly! If anyone out there still cares about this story, then thanks for sticking with it and not getting a mob together to lynch me for lack of updates. Anyway, until next time!

Also! Sorry about that false start a while ago. I thought I'd have reliable access to the internet, but it was simply not to be. My current situation is much more stable, and I'm ripe with ideas to keep this going. I've recently been into Adeptus Evangelion, a tabletop system that allows players to play through their own campaigns in the NGE universe, with unique Evas and Angels. It's a fanmade game that borrows heavily from Dark Heresy, a Warhammer 40k tabletop system. Check it out if you're into tabletop RPGs at all. Anyway, seriously this time. I'll stop typing. I promise. Update on the way!


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